The Bible Reading Plan

Genesis Chapter 30

²⁵When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban "Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.

²⁶Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you." ²⁷Laban said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that ForeverOne has blessed me for your sake." ²⁸He said, "Appoint me your wages, and I will give it." ²⁹He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me.

³⁰For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. ForeverOne has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?" ³¹He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said, "Don't give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.

³²I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire.

³³So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be considered stolen." ³⁴Laban said, "Behold, let it be according to your word." ³⁵That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

³⁶He set three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

³⁷Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond and plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

³⁸He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink.

³⁹The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in Laban's flock. He put his own droves apart, and didn't put them into Laban's flock.

⁴¹Whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, Jacob laid the rods in front of the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; ⁴²but when the flock were feeble, he didn't put them in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

⁴³The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Judges Chapter 21

¹Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin [to be his] wife." ²The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.

³They said, "ForeverOne, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?" ⁴The next day the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵The children of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn't come up in the assembly to ForeverOne?" For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn't come up to ForeverOne to Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death." ⁶The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Israel today.

⁷How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by ForeverOne that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?" ⁸They said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn't come up to ForeverOne to Mizpah?" Behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.

⁹For when the people were counted, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.

¹⁰The congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

¹¹This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man." ¹²They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.

¹⁴Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead: and yet so they weren't enough for them.

¹⁵The people grieved for Benjamin, because ForeverOne had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, "How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?" ¹⁷They said, "There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.

¹⁸However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, 'Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.'" ¹⁹They said, "Behold, there is a feast of ForeverOne from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah." ²⁰They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, ²¹and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

²²When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we didn't take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, otherwise you would now be guilty.'" ²³The children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.

²⁴The children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what was right in his own eyes.

1 Chronicles Chapter 29

¹⁴But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

¹⁵For we are strangers before you, and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining.

¹⁶ForeverOne our God, all this store that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own.

¹⁷I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now have I seen with joy your people, that are present here, offer willingly to you.

¹⁸ForeverOne, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart for you; ¹⁹and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision." ²⁰David said to all the assembly, "Now bless ForeverOne your God!" All the assembly blessed ForeverOne, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves before ForeverOne and the king.

²¹They sacrificed sacrifices to ForeverOne, and offered burnt offerings to ForeverOne, on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel, ²²and ate and drank before ForeverOne on that day with great gladness. They made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him to ForeverOne to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.

²³Then Solomon sat on the throne of ForeverOne as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

²⁴All the princes, the mighty men, and also all of the sons of king David submitted themselves to Solomon the king.

²⁵ForeverOne magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

²⁶Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

²⁷The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three [years] he reigned in Jerusalem.

²⁸He died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his place.

²⁹Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, ³⁰with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

Mark Chapter 1

²³Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ²⁴saying, "Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!" ²⁵Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" ²⁶The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

²⁷They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!" ²⁸The report of him went out immediately everywhere into all the region of Galilee and its surrounding area.

²⁹Immediately, when they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

³⁰Now Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.

³¹He came and took her by the hand and raised her up. The fever left her immediately, and she served them.

³²At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by demons.

³³All the city was gathered together at the door.

³⁴He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. He didn't allow the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there.

³⁶Simon and those who were with him searched for him.

³⁷They found him and told him, "Everyone is looking for you." ³⁸He said to them, "Let's go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason." ³⁹He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.

⁴⁰A leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, "If you want to, you can make me clean." ⁴¹Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, "I want to. Be made clean." ⁴²When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was made clean.

⁴³He strictly warned him and immediately sent him out, ⁴⁴and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them." ⁴⁵But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places. People came to him from everywhere.