M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 11
Announcement of the Death of the Firstborn.[a] 1 The Lord said to Moses, “I will send still another plague against Pharaoh and Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. He will let you leave without restrictions. In fact, he will chase you out.
2 “Therefore, tell the people that each man should ask from his neighbor and each woman should ask from her neighbor objects of silver and objects of gold.”
3 The Lord caused the people to find favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moses, too, was a man who was highly regarded in the land of Egypt, both by the ministers of Pharaoh and by the people.
4 Moses then said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Around midnight I will go forth through Egypt. 5 Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits upon the throne all the way to the firstborn of the slaves who work at the mill,[b] even the firstborn of the animals. 6 A great lament will rise up in all the land of Egypt such as will never be repeated again. 7 But not even a dog will growl against the children of Israel, neither against humans nor animals, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these servants of yours will come down to me and bow down in front of me saying, “May you and all the people who follow you leave.” After that I will leave.’ ”
Moses grew angry and left Pharaoh.
9 But the Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you. Therefore, I will multiply my signs in the land of Egypt.”
10 Moses and Aaron did all these signs before Pharaoh, but the Lord had so hardened the heart of Pharaoh that he would not let the children of Israel leave his land.
The Passover
Chapter 12
Preparations for the Passover.[c] 1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it shall be your first month of the year.[d] 3 Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, ‘The tenth of this month each person shall obtain a lamb for each family, one for each household. 4 If the family is too small to eat the lamb, they should join with their neighbors, based on the number of people. Figure the lamb according to how much each person can eat. 5 Your lamb should be without blemish,[e] male, a year old. You can choose either a sheep or a goat. 6 Keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. Then the whole community of Israel shall slaughter it in the evening. 7 Take a bit of its blood, put it on the two doorposts and upon the lintel of every house in which it is to be eaten. 8 That night eat its meat roasted. Eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat it raw or boiled in water, but only roasted with the head, legs, and inner organs. 10 Do not let any of it be kept until the morning. Whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned in the fire. 11 This is how you shall eat it, with your loins girt and sandals on your feet and a staff in your hand. Eat it quickly. It is the Passover[f] of the Lord.
12 “ ‘On that night I will pass over the land of Egypt and strike the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both human and animal, to render justice against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood on your houses shall be the sign that you are inside. I will see the blood and pass over. There shall be no plague for you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 Preparations for the Unleavened Bread.[g]“ ‘This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall celebrate it as a feast of the Lord. From generation to generation, let there be an ordinance that you celebrate this feast. 15 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall dispose of all leaven from your house. Whoever eats leavened goods from the first day til the seventh shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a sacred assembly and another on the seventh day. On those days you shall not work. You shall only prepare what is to be eaten by everyone.
17 “ ‘You shall observe the custom of unleavened bread, for on this same day I brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt. You shall observe this day from generation to generation as an eternal ordinance. 18 In the first month, the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first of the month, in the evening. 19 For seven days leavened bread shall not be found in your house, for whoever eats leavened bread shall be cut off from the community of Israel, whether it be a foreigner or a native of the land. 20 You shall not eat leavened bread; in all your houses you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
21 Celebration of the Passover. Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go and obtain a lamb for each family and slaughter it for the Passover.[h]
A Dinner Given by a Pharisee[a]
Chapter 14
Jesus Heals a Man with Dropsy on the Sabbath.[b] 1 On one Sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the home of a prominent Pharisee, and the people were watching him closely. 2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy, 3 and Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 When they offered no reply, he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. 5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 And they were unable to give him any answer.
The Parable of the Ambitious Guest.[c] 7 When he noticed how the guests were securing places of honor, he told them a parable: 8 “When you have been invited by someone to attend a wedding banquet, do not sit down in the place of honor in case someone who is more distinguished than you may have been invited, 9 and then the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will be embarrassed as you proceed to sit in the lowest place.
10 “Rather, when you are invited, proceed to sit in the lowest place, so that when your host arrives, he will say to you, ‘My friend, move up to a higher place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 Invite the Needy.[d] Then he said to the one who had invited him, “When you host a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, lest they invite you back and thus repay you. 13 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then indeed will you be blessed because they have no way to repay you. But you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 The Parable of the Great Supper.[e] On hearing this, one of the dinner guests said to him, “Blessed is the man who will dine in the kingdom of God.” 16 Jesus said in reply, “A man gave a sumptuous banquet, to which he invited many. 17 When the hour for the banquet drew near, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited: ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have bought a parcel of land, and I must go out to inspect it. Please accept my apologies.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out. Please accept my regrets.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have just gotten married, and therefore I am unable to come.’
21 “When the servant returned, he reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became enraged, and he said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Shortly afterward, the servant told him, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, and some room is still available.’ 23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the open roads and along the hedgerows and compel people to come,[f] so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”
Conditions To Be a Disciple[g]
25 Renunciation of Everything for Jesus.[h] Great crowds were accompanying Jesus on his journey, and he turned to them and said, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother,[i] wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 [j]“Which one of you, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has sufficient funds for its completion? 29 Otherwise, if he has laid the foundation and then finds himself unable to finish the work, all who see it will ridicule him, saying, 30 ‘There goes the man who started to build but was unable to complete the work.’
31 “Or what king marching into battle against another king will not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand soldiers he can defeat the enemy coming to oppose him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the enemy is still a long distance away, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any one of you who does not renounce all of his possessions cannot be my disciple.
34 The Simile of Salt.[k]“Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the dungheap. Thus, it can only be thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Job’s Final Speech: His Appeal to God
Chapter 29
The Happy Time.[a] 1 Then Job continued further with his solemn discourse, as he said:
2 “Oh, how I yearn for the months long gone
and for those days when God kept watch over me,
3 when his lamp continued to shine above my head
and by his light I could walk through darkness.
4 “In those days I was in my prime,
and God protected my tent.
5 The Almighty was ever present at my side,
and my children were around me.
6 My feet were bathed in milk,
and the rocks poured forth streams of oil[b] for me.
7 “When I would go forth to the gate of the city[c]
and take my seat in the public square,
8 the young men would see me and withdraw,
and the old men would rise to their feet.
9 The nobles would refrain from speaking
and would place their hands over their mouths.
10 The voices of the princes were silenced,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
People Praised My Works
11 “Whoever heard my words spoke favorably of me,
and those who saw me testified to my merit,
12 because I delivered the poor who appealed for help
and the orphan who had no one to protect him.
13 The blessing of the wretched was given to me,
and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 “I put on righteousness as my garment;
justice was my cloak and my turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I defended the rights of the stranger.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched their prey from their teeth.
18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in honor
after having multiplied my days like grains of sand,[d]
19 with my roots spreading out to the waters
and the dew lying on my branches throughout the night.
20 My glory will be forever new
and the bow in my hand forever strong.’
21 [e]“Men waited expectantly to hear my words
and listened in silence to my counsel.
22 Once I had spoken, no one spoke further
but simply let my thoughts penetrate their minds.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
with open mouths as though to drink in a spring shower.
24 “When I smiled at them, they were filled with gratitude,
and they were clearly strengthened because of the way I treated them.
25 As their leader I told them which course to follow,
and I lived like a king among his troops,
or as a comforter of mourners.
The Resurrection[a]
The Resurrection of Christ
Chapter 15
The Risen Christ, Foundation of Our Faith.[b] 1 And now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and in which you stand firm. 2 Through it you are also being saved, provided that you are holding fast to what I proclaimed to you. If not, then you have believed in vain.
3 [c]For I handed on to you as of primary importance what I received: that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried and that he was raised to life on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and later to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, although some have fallen asleep.[d] 7 After that he appeared to James,[e] and then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, he appeared to me, as to one born abnormally. 9 For I am the least of the apostles. I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. 10 However, by the grace of God I am what I am, and the grace he has bestowed upon me has not proved to be fruitless. Indeed, I have worked harder than any of them—although that should not be credited to me but to the grace of God within me. 11 But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach and what you have come to believe.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 The Resurrection and Faith.[f] Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. 15 We are even false witnesses to God, for we testified that he raised Christ when he did not raise him up, assuming it is true that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is without any foundation, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are utterly lost. 19 If it is for just this life that we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable of all men.
20 Christ, the Firstfruits.[g] But Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came into the world through a man, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a man.
22 Just as in Adam all die, so all will be brought to life in Christ, 23 but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every sovereignty and authority and power.[h] 25 For he is destined to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he has put all things under his feet. But when it says “all things are put under,” it is obvious that this excludes the one who subjected everything to him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who made all things subject to him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Practical Faith. Otherwise, what will people accomplish when they have themselves baptized for the dead?[i] If the dead are not raised at all, why should anyone be baptized for them? 30 And why should we be placing ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day—that is as sure as the pride that I have in you, brethren, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
32 With only human hopes, what would I have gained by fighting those wild beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not let anyone lead you astray. “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Come to your senses and sin no more. For some of you have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
The Mode of the Resurrection
35 The Resurrected Body. Someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What sort of body will they have when they come back?” 36 This is foolish. What you sow must die before it is given new life, 37 and what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare grain of wheat or of something else. 38 God gives to it a body that he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own particular body.
39 Not all flesh is alike. There is one kind for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The splendor of heavenly bodies is of one kind, and that of earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has a splendor of its own, the moon another splendor, and the stars still another. Indeed, the stars differ among themselves in splendor.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 What is sown in dishonor is raised as glorious. What is sown in weakness is raised in power. 44 What is sown is a physical body; what is raised is a spiritual body.
The Natural and the Spiritual Body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 As it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam has become a lifegiving spirit. 46 But the spiritual body did not come first. Rather the natural body came first, and then the spiritual.
47 The first man was formed from the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven. 48 The man formed from dust is the pattern for earthly people; the heavenly man is the pattern for those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man formed from dust, so shall we also bear the likeness of the heavenly one.
50 Where, O Death, Is Your Victory?[j] What I am asserting, brethren, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can the perishable inherit what is imperishable.
51 Listen while I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed 52 in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.[k] 53 For this perishable body must be clothed with the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then will the words that are written be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.
55 Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. 57 But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, stand firm and immovable, devoting yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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