M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Golden Calf and the Renewal of the Covenant
Chapter 32
The Golden Calf. 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and told him, “Make a god to walk before us, because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the one who brought us out of the land of Egypt.”
2 Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” 3 All the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from their hands and fashioned it with a chisel and made a molten calf.[a] They said, “Behold your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 5 Seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed, “Tomorrow shall be a feast in honor of the Lord.” 6 The following day they rose early, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. The people sat down and ate and drank. They then rose to divert themselves.
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Leave, go down, because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have become perverse. 8 They have quickly departed from the way that I have commanded them. They have made a molten calf for themselves, and have bowed down before it. They have offered sacrifices and said, ‘Behold your God, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
9 The Lord also said to Moses, “I have observed this people, and I have seen that it is a stubborn people. 10 Now let me be, so that my rage can blaze out against them and destroy them. I will then make you a great nation.”
11 The Prayer of Moses. But Moses entreated the Lord, his God, and said, “Why, O Lord, will you let your rage blaze out against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say about them, ‘He brought them out for evil purposes, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn back your wrath and change your mind about harming your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and said, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens. All this land, of which I have spoken, I will give to your descendants as their possession forever.’ ” 14 Then the Lord changed his mind and decided not to harm his people.
15 Moses Shatters the Tablets of the Law. Moses left and went down the mountain with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, tablets written on both sides. They were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were made by God, and the writing on them was God’s writing.
17 Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and he cried out to Moses, “There are battle sounds coming from the camp!” 18 But Moses answered, “It is not the shout of victory, nor the sound of defeat. It is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 When they drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses became very angry. He flung down the tablets, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 He then seized the calf that they had made and burned it with fire. He ground it down until it was a powder and scattered it on water that he made the children of Israel drink.
21 The Zeal of the Levites. Moses said to Aaron, “What has this people done to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 But Aaron answered, “Let my lord not be angry, for you know this people and that they are set on evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make a god to walk before us, because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ 24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Moses saw that the people had lost control of themselves (for Aaron had let them run so wild that their enemies mocked them). 26 So he stood at the gate to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He cried out to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Each man strap a sword to his side. Then pass back and forth in the camp from one gate to another and slay your brother, your companion, and your neighbor.”
28 The sons of Levi did as Moses had commanded them. On that day three thousand men from among the people perished. 29 Moses then said, “Today you have consecrated yourself to the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son or his brother, that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”
30 Moses Intercedes for His People. The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Today I will climb up to the Lord. Perhaps I will obtain pardon for your sin.”
31 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “This people has committed a great sin. They made a god out of gold for themselves.[b] 32 But now, if you will, pardon their sin—if not, I pray, blot me out of the book that you have written.”[c]
33 The Lord said to Moses, “I will blot out of my book only him who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place about which I told you. Behold, my angel will go before you. But on the day of reckoning, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 The Lord smote his people because they had made the calf that Aaron had fashioned.
I Am the Resurrection[a]
Chapter 11
Death of Lazarus.[b] 1 In Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha, a certain man named Lazarus had fallen ill. 2 This Mary was the woman who had anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 And so the sisters sent this message to him, “Lord, the one you love is ill.”
4 When Jesus heard this, he said,
“This illness is not to end in death.
Rather, it is for God’s glory,
so that by means of it
the Son of Man may be glorified.”
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So after learning that Lazarus was ill, he remained for two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then he said to his disciples, “Let us return to Judea.” 8 His disciples said to him, “Rabbi, just a short time ago the Jews were trying to stone you. Why do you want to go back there?” 9 Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours of daylight?
If someone walks in the daylight,
he does not stumble,
because he sees by the light of this world.
10 But if he walks at night,
he stumbles,
because he does not have the light.”
11 After saying this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples responded, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about the death of Lazarus, but they thought that he was speaking of ordinary sleep.
14 Finally, Jesus told them in plain words, “Lazarus is dead. 15 I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. Let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (who was called “the Twin”[c]) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go so that we may die with him.”
17 The Kingdom and the Promise of the Resurrection.[d] When Jesus arrived, he learned that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.[e] 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles distant, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them[f] for the loss of their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went forth to meet him, while Mary remained at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will grant you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus then said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me,
even though he dies, will live,
26 and everyone who lives
and believes in me
will never die.
Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied. “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is to come into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went back and took her sister Mary aside, telling her privately, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 For Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, assuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 Mary came to the place where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and beheld the Jews who were with her also weeping, he became deeply moved in spirit and angry. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep, 36 causing the Jews to say, “See how greatly he loved him!” 37 But some of them remarked, “He opened the eyes of the blind man. Why could he not have done something to prevent this man’s death?”
38 Again deeply moved, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, with a stone closing the entrance. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench, for he has been dead for four days.”
40 Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?” 41 And so they removed the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
42 I know that you always hear me,
but I have said this
for the sake of the people standing here,
so that they may believe
that it was you who sent me.”
43 When he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Then Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go free.”
45 One Man Must Die for the People.[g] This caused many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, to believe in him. 46 However, some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done.
47 As a result, the chief priests and the Pharisees summoned a meeting of the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will start to believe in him, and then the Romans will come and suppress both our temple and our nation.”
49 However, one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,[h] said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 You do not seem to realize that it is better for us that one man die for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as the high priest that year he was prophesying that Jesus was to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation alone, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53 And so from that day on, they plotted to kill him.[i] 54 As a result, Jesus no longer walked about openly among the Jews. He withdrew to a town called Ephraim[j] in the region bordering the desert, and he remained there with the disciples.
The True Passover That Brings About the Salvation of Humankind[k]
The Hour Has Come[l]
55 The Last Passover.[m]Now the Jewish Passover[n] was drawing near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover in order to purify themselves. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and they asked one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Will he come to the feast or not?” 57 Meanwhile, the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should inform them so that they might arrest him.
Chapter 8
Wisdom Reenters the Scene[a]
1 Does Wisdom not call?
Does Understanding not lift up her voice?
2 On the heights, by the wayside,
at the crossroads—she takes her stand;
3 by the gates leading into the city,
at the roads of access she cries out:
4 “I call out to you, O men;
my appeal is to the sons of men.
5 You who are simple, acquire prudence;
you who are foolish, acquire understanding.
6 Listen, for I speak of important matters;
what I proclaim is honest and right.
7 For my mouth proclaims the truth;
wickedness is abhorrent to my lips.
8 “All the words of my mouth are upright;
not a single word is false or crooked.
9 All of them are clear to those who are intelligent[b]
and right to those who have acquired knowledge.
10 Choose my instruction rather than silver
and knowledge instead of pure gold.
11 For Wisdom is better than pearls,
and no object of desire can compare with her.
12 “I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I possess knowledge and discretion.[c]
13 The fear of the Lord implies hatred of evil;[d]
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil ways and perverse speech.
14 From me issue forth counsel and prudence;
insight and strength[e] are mine.
15 Through me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just.
16 By me princes and nobles rule,
all those who govern rightly.
17 “I love those who love me,
and those who diligently seek me will find me.
18 With me are riches and honor,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than the finest gold,
and what I yield surpasses pure silver.
20 I walk on the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21 bestowing wealth on those who love me
and heaping up their treasuries.
By the Side of the God of the Origins[f]
22 “The Lord created me as the firstborn of his ways,
before the oldest of his works.
23 I was established in the earliest times,
at the beginning, before the earth.
24 I was brought forth when there were no ocean depths,
when there were no springs overflowing with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 when he had not yet made the earth and the fields
or the mass of the world’s soil.
27 “When he set the heavens in place, I was there,
when he designated where the ocean and the horizon[g] meet,
28 when he fixed the canopy of the clouds above
and limited the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned the boundaries of the sea
so that the waters would not transgress his command,
and when he established the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him as a master craftsman,[h]
and I was his delight day after day,
exulting in his presence continually,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of men.[i]
32 “So now, my sons, listen to me;
blessed[j] are those who keep my ways.
33 Listen to instruction and gain wisdom;
do not reject it.
34 Blessed is the one who listens to me,
who keeps watch daily at my gates,
waiting at my doorway.
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the Lord.
36 But whoever sins against me harms himself,
and all who hate me love death.”
Introduction
Chapter 1
Address and Greeting.[a] 1 Paul, by the will of God an apostle of Christ Jesus, to the saints who are in Ephesus[b] and are faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Risen Christ, Lord and Savior of the Whole Human Race[c]
God’s Glorious Plan of Salvation[d]
Conceived by the Father
3 Blessed be the God,
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
4 Before the foundation of the world
he chose us in Christ
to be holy and blameless in his sight
and to be filled with love.
5 He predestined us
for adoption as his children
through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with his purpose and pleasure,
6 to the praise of the glory
of his grace
that he so freely bestowed on us
in the Beloved.
Realized by the Son
7 In Christ
and through his blood
we have redemption[e]
and the forgiveness of our sins.
In accord with the riches of his grace,
8 God lavished on us
all wisdom and insight.
9 He has made known to us
the mystery of his will
in accordance with his good pleasure
that he had predetermined in Christ
10 to be realized when
the fullness of time had been achieved:
namely, the plan to bring all things,
both in heaven and on earth,
together[f] in Christ
as the head.
Fulfilled by the Holy Spirit
11 In Christ we were also chosen,
having been predestined
by the one who accomplishes all things
in accordance with the design of his will,
12 so that we,
who were the first ones
to place our hopes in Christ,
would devote ourselves
to the praise of his glory.
13 In Christ
you also heard the message of truth
and the gospel of your salvation,
and you came to believe in him.
In him,
you were marked with the seal
of the Holy Spirit
who had been promised.
14 That Spirit is the down payment[g] of our inheritance,
which we shall share
when God has redeemed us
as his own possession,
to the praise of his glory.
The Church’s Unity with Christ[h]
Christ, Head of the Church. Having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love toward all the saints, 16 I therefore never cease to give thanks to God for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know him.18 I further pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, how rich and glorious is his inheritance[i] in the saints, 19 and how immeasurably great is the power that he has exercised toward those who have faith.
Such was his mighty power 20 that he exhibited in Christ
when he raised him from the dead
and enthroned him
at his right hand in heaven,
21 far above
every principality and authority,
power and dominion,
and every other title
that can be named,
not only in this age
but also in the age to come.
22 He has put all things
under Christ’s feet
and has made him
the head of the Church,
23 which is his body,
the fullness of him
who fills the universe
in all its parts.
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