M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Meets Esau
33 Then Jacob glanced up and saw, behold, there was Esau coming—and 400 men with him. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. 2 He put the female servants and their children first, then Leah and her children behind them, then Rachel and Joseph behind them. 3 But he himself passed on ahead of them, and bowed to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, fell on his neck and kissed him—and they wept. 5 His eyes glanced up and he saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?”
“The children whom God has graciously given your servant,” he said. 6 Then the female servants approached, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah also approached, along with her children, and they bowed down, and finally, Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.
8 “What do you mean by this whole caravan that I’ve met?”
So he said, “To find favor in your eyes, my lord.”
9 But Esau said, “I have plenty! O my brother, do keep all that belongs to you.”
10 Yet Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor in your eyes, then you will take my offering from my hand. For this is the reason I’ve seen your face—it is like seeing the face of God—and you’ve accepted me! 11 Please, take my blessing that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me, and because I have everything.” So he kept urging him until he accepted.
12 Then he said, “Let’s journey and be on our way, and I’ll go ahead of you. 13 He continued, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and the cattle in my care are nursing. So if they were pushed hard just one day, all the flocks would die. 14 Please, let my lord pass on ahead of your servant, and I’ll move on further gradually, at a pace suited to the livestock that are before me and at a pace suited to the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”
But he said, “What’s this? Let me find favor in my lord’s eyes.”
16 So on that day Esau returned on his way to Seir, 17 but Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built a house for himself, and for his livestock he made booths. That is the reason that place is called Sukkot.
18 So Jacob arrived in shalom to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped right in front of the city. 19 He purchased the portion of the field there where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of money. 20 There he set up an altar, and he called it, El is Israel’s God.
Storytelling Opens Hearts
4 Again Yeshua began to teach by the sea. A large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 He began teaching them many things by parables, and in His teaching, He said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to spread some seed. 4 It happened that as he sowed, some fell beside the road; and the birds came and ate it up.
5 “Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it didn’t have much soil. It sprang up immediately, because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 “And others fell into the good soil and were producing fruit, springing up and increasing. They yielded a crop, producing thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 When Yeshua was alone, those around Him with the Twelve started asking Him about the parables. 11 And He told them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those who are outside, everything is in parables,[a] so that
12 ‘Seeing, they may se and not perceive,
and hearing, they may hear and not understand,
so they may not turn back and be forgiven.’”[b]
13 He said to them, “Don’t you grasp this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones beside the road where the word is sown. Whenever they hear, satan comes quickly and takes away the word that has been sown in them.
16 “These are the ones sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves but last only a short while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 “And others are the ones sown among the thorns. They have heard the word; 19 but the worries of the world, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 “And those are the ones sown on the good soil. They hear the word and accept it and produce fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Reaping What You Sow
21 He also was saying to them, “Is a lamp put under a basket or a bed? No, shouldn’t it be placed on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor anything kept secret except that it would come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 Then He continued, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you; and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given. And whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
What Is the Kingdom of God Like?
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like when a man spreads seed on the soil 27 and falls asleep at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He himself doesn’t know how. 28 Automatically, the earth brings forth a crop—first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ready, at once he sends in the sickle, for the harvest has come.”
30 Yeshua also said, “How should we picture the kingdom of God? Or by what story shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed when it’s planted in the ground. Though the smallest of all seeds in the earth, 32 yet when planted it grows up and becomes the largest of all the herbs. It puts forth big branches, so the birds of the air can nest in its shade.”[c]
33 With many such parables He used to tell them the word, as much as they were able to hear. 34 But apart from a parable, He wasn’t speaking to them. Yet when they were alone, to His own disciples He would explain everything.
Power Over Nature
35 Now on that same day in the evening, He says to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side.” 36 After leaving the crowd, they take Him along in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him.
37 A great windstorm arises, and the waves were rushing into the boat. The boat was beginning to fill up. 38 But Yeshua was in the back of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They wake Him up and say to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?”
39 So He woke up and rebuked the wind. And He said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and it became totally calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Even now you have no faith?”
41 They were struck with awe and said to one another, “Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
Jews Defend Themselves
9 Consequently, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is the month Adar), the king’s edict and his law drew near to be carried out. On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but contrary to expectations the Jews gained the upper hand over those that hated them. 2 Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus in order to lay hands on those seeking their harm. No one was able to stand against them, for fear of them had fallen on all the peoples. 3 Even all the administrators of the provinces, the officers and governors, and those doing business for the king, helped the Jews, for the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 Mordecai was prominent at the palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces. The man Mordecai was growing ever more powerful.
5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying, and they did whatever they wished to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel at Shushan the Jews killed and destroyed 500 people, 7 including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the 10 sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. They slew them but did not lay their hands on the plunder.
11 On that day the number of those that were killed in the citadel at Shushan was brought to the king’s attention. 12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men in the citadel of Shushan, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done, in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your request? It shall be granted to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.”
13 “If it please the king,” Esther said, “let the Jews in Shushan be allowed to carry out today’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
14 The king commanded that this be done. A decree was issued in Shushan and they hanged Haman’s 10 sons. 15 The Jews in Shushan gathered together on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and they killed 300 men in Shushan, but they did not put their hands on the plunder.
16 Meanwhile the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered together to protect themselves and to get relief from their enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of Adar and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and gladness.
18 But the Jews that were in Shushan had assembled on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth and on the fifteenth they rested, making it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 That is why the rural Jews—those living in unwalled villages—make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a day of sending presents of food to one another.
Purim Festival
20 Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 urging them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year 22 as the days when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into celebration. These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food to one another and giving gifts to the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the commemoration they had begun, and do what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur—that is, the lot—to ruin and destroy them. 25 But when it came to the king’s attention, he issued a written edict that the wicked scheme Haman[a] had devised against the Jews should come back on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. (26 For this reason, these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Therefore because of everything in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and took upon themselves, upon their descendants, and upon all who joined with them, that they would commemorate these two days in the way prescribed and at the appointed time every year. 28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family and in every province and every city. These days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their remembrance perish from their descendants.
29 Then Queen Esther the daughter of Abihail, and also Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 He sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of shalom and truth, 31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them and just as they had established for themselves and their descendants, matters regarding their times of fasting and lamentations. 32 Esther’s command confirmed these regulations about Purim and it was written into the records.
10 Now King Ahasuerus imposed a tribute upon the entire land, even to the coastlands of the sea. 2 All the acts of his power and might, along with the full account of the greatness of Mordecai and the story of how the king promoted him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by the multitude of his people. He sought their good and spoke for the welfare of his descendants.
Abraham Set Right by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was set right by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” [a] 4 Now to the one who works, the pay is not credited as a gift, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his trust is credited as righteousness— 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin Adonai will never count against him.”[b]
9 Is this blessing then only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? For we say, “trust was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”[c]
10 In what state then was it credited? While circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the trust he had while he was uncircumcised, so he might be the father of all who are trusting while uncircumcised—that righteousness might be credited to them as well. 12 Also he is the father of the circumcised, to those not only circumcised but also walking in the footsteps of the trust of our father Abraham before his circumcision.[d]
Trusting in the Promise
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his seed—to become heir of the world—was not through law, but through the righteousness based on trust. 14 For if those who are of the Torah are heirs, trust has become empty and the promise is made ineffective. 15 For the Torah brings about wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there a violation.
16 For this reason it depends on trust, so that the promise according to grace might be guaranteed to all the offspring—not only to those of the Torah but also to those of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”[e]). He is our father in the sight of God in whom he trusted, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence that which does not exist. 18 In hope beyond hope, he trusted that he would become the father of many nations according to what was spoken—“So shall your descendants be.” [f] 19 And without becoming weak in faith, he considered his own body—as good as dead, since he was already a hundred years old—and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 Yet he did not waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God. Rather, he was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God has promised, He also is able to do. [g] 22 That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[h]
23 Now not only for his sake was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake as well. It is credited to us as those who trust in Him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over for our transgressions and raised up for the sake of setting us right.[i]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.