M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 13
Punishing False Prophets. 1 Do whatever I command you to do. Do not add anything to it, nor ignore anything from it.
2 If a prophet or one who foretells the future through dreams arises among you and performs some miraculous sign or wonder 3 and that miraculous sign or wonder occurs, and he says to you, “Let us seek after other gods which we have not previously known and serve them,” 4 you are not to listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams.[a] The Lord, your God, is testing you to see whether you love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and your soul. 5 It is the Lord, your God, whom you are to follow. You must fear him and observe his commandments and obey what he tells you and serve him and hold fast to him. 6 But that prophet or the one who told the future through dreams is to be put to death for he counseled you to turn away from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. He was driving you away from the way that the Lord, your God, had ordered must be your path. You must purge this evil from your midst.
7 [b]Even if your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or your wife, or your closest friend secretly tempts you saying, “Let us go and serve other gods whom neither you nor your forefathers have known,” 8 the gods of the people living around us, whether they be near or far, wherever they are upon the whole face of the earth, 9 you are not to agree to do this with him or even listen to him. You must show him no pity, you should not spare or conceal him. 10 You must put him to death. You must be the first to lay hands on him to put him to death, and then all of the people after you. 11 Stone him to death! He sought to turn you away from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 12 Then all of Israel will hear of this and be filled with fear, and no one will ever do such an evil thing again in your midst.
13 If you hear it said that in one of the cities that the Lord, your God, has given you to live in 14 there are evil men who have come out from among you and who have misled the inhabitants of the city saying, “Let us go and serve other gods whom we have not previously known,” 15 then you will inquire, and probe, and investigate it thoroughly. If it is clearly proven that this detestable thing has been done among you, 16 you are to put the inhabitants of that city to the sword and you are to demolish it. Destroy everything in it, even killing the cattle with the edge of the sword. 17 Gather all of the plunder from it in the middle of its streets, and burn the city and all the spoil in it to the ground. It is to be like a burnt offering to the Lord, your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 18 You are not to hold on to any of those cursed things, so that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy. He will have compassion on you, and make you numerous, as he promised your fathers, 19 for you will have heeded the voice of the Lord, your God, and observed all of the commandments that I gave you today and done what the Lord, your God, considered to be right.
Chapter 14
1 You are the children of the Lord, your God. Do not slash yourselves nor shave the front of your heads on account of the dead.[c] 2 You are a people who are holy to the Lord, your God, and the Lord has picked you out from among all the peoples on the earth to be a chosen people.
Clean and Unclean Food.[d] 3 You are not to eat any abominable thing. 4 These are the animals that you can eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the gazelle, the roebuck, the deer, the wild goat, the antelope, the wild ox, and the mountain sheep. 6 Every animal that has a cleft hoof, its hoof is divided in two parts, and that chews its cud is an animal that you can eat. 7 However, there are animals that chew their cud, or that have a cleft hoof that you cannot eat: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, for they chew their cud but do not have a cleft hoof, so they are unclean for you. 8 Likewise, pigs have a cleft hoof, but they do not chew their cud, so they are unclean for you. You are not to eat their meat, nor even touch their dead carcasses.
9 You can eat any water creature that has fins and scales; those you can eat. 10 Whatever does not have fins or scales, you are not to eat. It is unclean for you.
11 You can eat any clean bird. 12 These are the birds you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the osprey, 13 the hawk, the kite, any type of vulture, 14 any kind of raven, 15 the owl, the night hawk, the gull, any type of falcon, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the barn owl, 17 the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any type of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. 19 Every type of flying insect is unclean for you. You shall not eat it, 20 but you can eat any type of clean bird.
21 Do not eat anything that died on its own. You can give it to a foreigner who is living in your town, and he can eat it, or you can sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people who are holy to the Lord, your God. You shall not eat a kid goat boiled in its mother’s milk.[e]
22 Tithes.[f]Each year you are to tithe the yield of your seed that has grown in the field. 23 This is what you shall eat in the presence of the Lord, your God, in the place that he has established that his name be placed: the tithe of your grain, wine, and oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock. This will be a lesson to fear the Lord, your God, always. 24 If the distance is so great that you cannot carry it to the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen to set his name, and the Lord, your God, has blessed you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and carry the money to the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen. 26 You can use that money to buy whatever you wish, oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, whatever you wish. You and your family will consume it in the presence of the Lord, your God, and you will rejoice.
27 You are not to neglect the Levite who lives in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. 28 [g]Every third year you are to bring all of your tithes from your produce for that year and you will deposit them in your town. 29 The Levite, who has no portion nor inheritance among you, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your town will consume it until they are full. Thus, the Lord, your God, will bless you in every endeavor you pursue.
Psalm 99[a]
God, King of Justice and Holiness
1 The Lord is King;[b]
let the nations tremble.
He sits enthroned on the cherubim;
let the earth quake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name:[c]
holy is he!
4 Mighty King, you love justice,
and you have established fairness;
in Jacob[d] you have brought about
what is just and right.
5 Exalt the Lord, our God,
and worship at his footstool;
holy is he![e]
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
and Samuel was among those who invoked his name;
they cried out to the Lord,
and he answered them.[f]
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;[g]
they obeyed his decrees and the law he gave them.
8 O Lord, our God,
you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but you punished their wrongdoings.[h]
9 Exalt the Lord, our God,
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord, our God, is holy.[i]
Psalm 100[j]
Processional Entrance Hymn
1 A psalm of thanksgiving.[k]
Acclaim the Lord[l] with joy, all the earth;
2 serve the Lord[m] with gladness;
enter his presence with songs of joy.
3 Proclaim that the Lord is God.[n]
He made us and we are his possession;
we are his people, the flock he shepherds.
4 Offer thanksgiving as you enter his gates,[o]
sing hymns of praise as you approach his courts;
give thanks to him and bless his name,
5 for the Lord is good.
His kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness is constant to all generations.[p]
Psalm 101[q]
Norm of Life for a Good Ruler
1 A psalm of David.
I will sing of kindness and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will offer praise in song.
2 I will walk in the path of blamelessness;
when will you come to me?[r]
Within my house[s] I will act
with integrity of heart.
3 I will not allow any shameful act
to be done before my eyes.
[t]I will refuse to associate
with people who do evil.
4 Let the perverse of heart remain far from me;
I will not tolerate the wicked.
5 [u]Anyone who secretly slanders a neighbor
I will reduce to silence.
Anyone with haughty glances and an arrogant heart
I cannot endure.
6 The faithful in the land are the ones
whom I will choose to be my companions.
Only the one who follows the path of integrity
will be allowed to be my servant.
7 No one who practices deceit
will be permitted to remain in my house.
No one who utters lies
will be numbered among my companions.[v]
8 Morning after morning[w] I will banish
all the wicked from the land,
removing all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
Chapter 41
The Lord Redeems Israel
1 Be silent and listen to me, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them draw near and speak;
let us meet together at the place of judgment.
2 Who has raised up a victor from the east
and summoned him to his service?
He delivers up nations to him
and overthrows their kings.
With his sword he scatters them like dust,
and with his bow he reduces them to stubble.
3 He pursues them and advances unscathed,
scarcely touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed these deeds and accomplished this?
Who has summoned the nations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the first,
and I will be there with the last.
5 The coastlands have seen and become frightened;
the ends of the earth tremble.
These things are fast approaching;
they will come to pass.
6 Each worker helps another;
they encourage each other to take heart.
7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and the polisher the one who strikes the anvil;
he declares the soldering to be good,
and he fastens the image with nails
so that it will be secure.
8 But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the descendants of my friend Abraham,
9 you whom I have taken to myself
from the ends of the earth
and summoned from its farthest corners,
to whom I have said, “You are my servant;
I have chosen you and will not cast you off.
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and give you help,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
11 All those who rage against you
will be put to shame and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be reduced to nothing and perish.
12 You will search for those who oppose you
but you will not find them.
Those who take up arms against you
will be reduced to nothing.
13 For I, the Lord, am your God
and I grasp your right hand.
It is I who say to you,
Do not fear; I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm, Jacob,
you maggot, Israel.
I will help you, says the Lord;
your redeemer[a] is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Now I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, with numerous teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you will reduce the hills to chaff.
16 You will winnow them,
the wind will carry them away,
and the gale will scatter them.
Then you will rejoice in the Lord
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy search for water
and there is none,
and their tongues are parched with thirst,
I the Lord will come to their aid;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open up rivers on the barren heights
and fountains in the midst of valleys.
I will turn the wilderness into a lake
and the dry land into springs of water.
19 In the wilderness I will plant cedars,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees;
in the wasteland I will place cypress trees
to grow side by side with plane trees and pine trees,
20 so that all may see and know,
observe and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 Present your case, says the Lord.
Produce your arguments, says the king of Jacob.
22 Let them bring forth their idols
and reveal to us what is going to happen.
What happened in the past?
Inform us so that we may reflect on it
and that we may know what the outcome will be
or declare to us the things to come.
23 Reveal to us what is yet to come
so that we may know that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,
that will cause us to be alarmed and terrified.
24 But you cannot do so, for you are nothing,
and your works are truly worthless.
To choose you is an abomination.
25 I have stirred up one from the north,
and he has come forth;
from the east he has been summoned by name.
He will trample on rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter treading clay.
26 Who revealed this to us from the beginning
so that we might know it,
or advised us beforehand
so that we might say, “He is right”?
No one foretold it, no one proclaimed it,
no one has heard you say anything in this regard.
27 I was the first to declare it to Zion,
and I sent a bearer of glad tidings to Jerusalem.
28 But when I look around, I see no one;
there is not a single one of them to offer counsel
or to give an answer when I question them.
29 No, they are a delusion.
Nothing they do amounts to anything;
their idols are empty wind.
Chapter 11
The Two Witnesses and the Fate of Jerusalem.[a] 1 I was next given a staff to use as a measuring rod, and I was told, “Go forth and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the people who are worshiping there. 2 However, exclude the outer court of the temple from your measurements, because it has been handed over to the Gentiles and they will trample on the holy city for forty-two months.[b] 3 I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for those twelve hundred and sixty days, wearing sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire pours forth from their mouths and consumes their enemies. Anyone who attempts to harm them will surely be killed in this manner. 6 They have the power to shut up the sky so that it does not rain during the time they are prophesying. They also have the power to turn water into blood and to afflict the earth with every type of plague as often as they desire.
7 When they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will wage war against them and overpower and kill them. 8 Their corpses will lie in the street of the great city, known by the symbolic names of Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
9 People of every race, tribe, nation, and language will gaze at their corpses for three and a half days and refuse to allow them to be buried. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them as they celebrate and exchange gifts, because these two prophets had been a source of torment to them.
11 However, after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and when they rose to their feet, great terror filled those who saw them. 12 Then I heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here,” and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a cloud.
13 At that very hour there was a violent earthquake, and a tenth of the city was destroyed. Seven thousand people were killed during the earthquake. Those who survived were overcome with fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed, but the third will come quickly.
15 The Seventh Trumpet: the Third Woe.[c] The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and voices in heaven were heard crying loudly:
“The kingdom of the world belongs
to our Lord and his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.”
16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in the presence of God prostrated themselves and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty,
who are and who were.
For you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations rose in rage,
but now your wrath has come.
It is the time for judging the dead
and for rewarding your servants the Prophets,
as well as the saints who revere your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant[d] was seen within his temple. There followed flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.
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