The Bible Reading Plan

Genesis Chapter 47

¹Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen." ²From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.

³Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers." ⁴They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen." ⁵Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

⁶The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock." ⁷Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?" ⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." ¹⁰Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

¹²Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father's household, with bread, according to their families.

¹³There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

¹⁴Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁵When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails." ¹⁶Joseph said, "Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone." ¹⁷They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

2 Samuel Chapter 1

¹After the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag; ²On the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn, and earth on his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground, and showed respect.

³David said to him, "Where do you come from?" He said to him, "I have escaped out of the camp of Israel." ⁴David said to him, "How did it go? Please tell me." He answered, "The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also." ⁵David said to the young man who told him, "How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?" ⁶The young man who told him said, "As I happened by chance on Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning on his spear; and behold, the chariots and the master horsemen followed hard after him.

⁷When he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. I answered, 'Here I am.' ⁸He said to me, 'Who are you?' I answered him, 'I am an Amalekite.' ⁹He said to me, 'Please stand beside me, and kill me; for anguish has taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.' ¹⁰So I stood beside him, and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he had fallen. I took the crown that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord." ¹¹Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them; and likewise all the men who were with him.

¹²They mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of ForeverOne, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

¹³David said to the young man who told him, "Where are you from?" He answered, "I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite." ¹⁴David said to him, "How were you not afraid to reach out your hand to destroy ForeverOne's anointed?" ¹⁵David called one of the young men, and said, "Go near, and fall on him." He struck him, so that he died.

¹⁶David said to him, "Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have slain ForeverOne's anointed.'" ¹⁷David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son ¹⁸(and he commanded them to teach the children of Judah [the song of] the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jashar): ¹⁹"Your glory, Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰Don't tell it in Gath. Don't publish it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

²¹You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain on you, neither fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was vilely thrown away, The shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.

²²From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, Jonathan's bow didn't turn back. Saul's sword didn't return empty.

²³Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. In their death, they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions.

²⁴You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet delicately, who put ornaments of gold on your clothing.

²⁵How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.

²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

²⁷How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!"

2 Chronicles Chapter 25

¹¹Amaziah took courage, and led out his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and struck of the children of Seir ten thousand.

¹²The children of Judah carried away ten thousand alive, and brought them to the top of the rock, and threw them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were broken in pieces.

¹³But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much spoil.

¹⁴Now after Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense to them.

¹⁵Therefore the anger of ForeverOne was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of your hand?" ¹⁶As he talked with him, he said to him, "Have we made you one of the king's counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" Then the prophet stopped, and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel." ¹⁷Then Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face." ¹⁸Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as his wife; then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.

¹⁹You say to yourself that you have struck Edom; and your heart lifts you up to boast. Now stay at home. Why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?'" ²⁰But Amaziah would not listen; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand [of their enemies], because they had sought after the gods of Edom.

²¹So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

²²Judah was defeated by Israel; and they fled every man to his tent.

²³Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

²⁴[He took] all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

Luke Chapter 1

⁶⁷His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, ⁶⁸"Blessed be ForeverOne, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people; ⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David ⁷⁰(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old), ⁷¹salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; ⁷²to show mercy towards our fathers, to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, ⁷⁴to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of ForeverOne to prepare his ways, ⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins, ⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the dawn from on high will visit us, ⁷⁹to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace." ⁸⁰The child was growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Luke Chapter 2

¹Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

²This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

⁴Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David's city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; ⁵to enroll himself with Mary, who was engaged to become his wife, and was also pregnant.

⁶While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth.

⁷She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

⁹Behold, an angel of ForeverOne stood by them, and the glory of ForeverOne shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

¹¹For there is born to you today, in David's city, a Savior, who is the Lord AnointedOne.

¹²This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough." ¹³Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men."