M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

18 “Remember that the priests and all the other members of the Levite tribe will not be given property like the other tribes. So the priests and Levites are to be supported by the sacrifices brought to the altar of the Lord and by the other offerings the people bring to him. ² They don’t need to own property, for the Lord is their property! That is what he promised them! ³ The shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach of every ox or sheep brought for sacrifice must be given to the priests. ⁴ In addition, the priests shall receive the harvest samples brought in thanksgiving to the Lord—the first of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and of the fleece at shearing time. ⁵ For the Lord your God has chosen the tribe of Levi, of all the tribes, to minister to the Lord from generation to generation.

^6-7 “Any Levite, no matter where he lives in the land of Israel, has the right to come to the sanctuary at any time and minister in the name of the Lord, just like his brother Levites who work there regularly. ⁸ He shall be given his share of the sacrifices and offerings as his right, not just if he is in need.

⁹ “When you arrive in the Promised Land you must be very careful lest you be corrupted by the horrible customs of the nations now living there. ¹⁰ For example, any Israeli who presents his child to be burned to death as a sacrifice to heathen gods must be killed.^[a] No Israeli may practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune-teller, ¹¹ or be a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead. ¹² Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the Lord, and it is because the nations do these things that the Lord your God will displace them. ¹³ You must walk blamelessly before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ The nations you replace all do these evil things, but the Lord your God will not permit you to do such things.

¹⁵ “Instead, he will raise up for you a prophet like me, an Israeli, a man to whom you must listen and whom you must obey. ¹⁶ For this is what you yourselves begged of God at Mount Horeb. There at the foot of the mountain you begged that you might not have to listen to the terrifying voice of God again, or see the awesome fire on the mountain, lest you die.

¹⁷ “‘All right,’ the Lord said to me, ‘I will do as they have requested. ¹⁸ I will raise up from among them a prophet, an Israeli like you. I will tell him what to say, and he shall be my spokesman to the people. ¹⁹ I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to him and heed his messages from me. ²⁰ But any prophet who falsely claims that his message is from me shall die. And any prophet who claims to give a message from other gods must die.’ ²¹ If you wonder, ‘How shall we know whether the prophecy is from the Lord or not?’ ²² this is the way to know: If the thing he prophesies doesn’t happen, it is not the Lord who has given him the message; he has made it up himself. You have nothing to fear from him.

105 Thank the Lord for all the glorious things he does; proclaim them to the nations. ² Sing his praises and tell everyone about his miracles. ³ Glory in the Lord; O worshipers of God, rejoice.

⁴ Search for him and for his strength, and keep on searching!

^5-6 Think of the mighty deeds he did for us, his chosen ones—descendants of God’s servant Abraham, and of Jacob. Remember how he destroyed our enemies. ⁷ He is the Lord our God. His goodness^[a] is seen everywhere throughout the land. ^8-9 Though a thousand generations pass he never forgets his promise, his covenant with Abraham and Isaac ^10-11 and confirmed with Jacob. This is his never-ending treaty with the people of Israel: “I will give you the land of Canaan as your inheritance.” ¹² He said this when they were but few in number, very few, and were only visitors in Canaan. ¹³ Later they were dispersed among the nations and were driven from one kingdom to another; ¹⁴ but through it all he would not let one thing be done to them apart from his decision.^[b] He destroyed many a king who tried! ¹⁵ “Touch not these chosen ones of mine,” he warned, “and do not hurt my prophets.”

¹⁶ He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply. ¹⁷ Then he sent Joseph as a slave to Egypt to save his people from starvation. ¹⁸ There in prison they hurt his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar ¹⁹ until God’s time finally came—how God tested his patience! ²⁰ Then the king sent for him and set him free. ²¹ He was put in charge of all the king’s possessions. ²² At his pleasure he could imprison the king’s aides and teach the king’s advisors.

²³ Then Jacob (Israel) arrived in Egypt and lived there with his sons. ²⁴ In the years that followed, the people of Israel multiplied explosively until they were a greater nation than their rulers. ²⁵ At that point God turned the Egyptians against the Israelis; they hated and enslaved them.

²⁶ But God sent Moses as his representative, and Aaron with him, ²⁷ to call down miracles of terror upon the land of Egypt. ²⁸ They^[c] followed his instructions. He sent thick darkness through the land ²⁹ and turned the nation’s water into blood, poisoning the fish. ³⁰ Then frogs invaded in enormous numbers; they were found even in the king’s private rooms. ³¹ When Moses spoke, the flies and other insects swarmed in vast clouds from one end of Egypt to the other. ³² Instead of rain he sent down murderous hail, and lightning flashes overwhelmed the nation. ³³ Their grapevines and fig trees were ruined; all the trees lay broken on the ground. ³⁴ He spoke, and hordes of locusts came ³⁵ and ate up everything green, destroying all the crops. ³⁶ Then he killed the oldest child in each Egyptian home, their pride and joy— ³⁷ and brought his people safely out from Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; there were no sick and feeble folk among them then. ³⁸ Egypt was glad when they were gone, for the dread of them was great.

³⁹ He spread out a cloud above them to shield them from the burning sun and gave them a pillar of flame at night to give them light. ⁴⁰ They asked for meat, and he sent them quail and gave them manna—bread from heaven. ⁴¹ He opened up a rock, and water gushed out to form a river through the dry and barren land; ⁴² for he remembered his sacred promises to Abraham his servant.

⁴³ So he brought his chosen ones singing into the Promised Land. ⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, complete with their growing crops; they ate what others planted. ⁴⁵ This was done to make them faithful and obedient to his laws. Hallelujah!

45 This is Jehovah’s message to Cyrus, God’s anointed, whom he has chosen to conquer many lands. God shall empower his right hand, and he shall crush the strength of mighty kings. God shall open the gates of Babylon to him; the gates shall not be shut against him anymore. ² I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains and smash down the city gates of brass and iron bars. ³ And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches; and you will know that I am doing this—I, the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by your name.

⁴ And why have I named you for this work? For the sake of Jacob, my servant—Israel, my chosen. I called you by name when you didn’t know me. ⁵ I am Jehovah; there is no other God. I will strengthen you and send you out to victory even though you don’t know me, ⁶ and all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am Jehovah and there is no one else. I alone am God. ⁷ I form the light and make the dark. I send good times and bad. I, Jehovah, am he who does these things. ⁸ Open up, O heavens. Let the skies pour out their righteousness. Let salvation and righteousness sprout up together from the earth. I, Jehovah, created them.

⁹ Woe to the man who fights with his Creator. Does the pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with him who forms it, saying, “Stop, you’re doing it wrong!” or the pot exclaim, “How clumsy can you be!”? ¹⁰ Woe to the baby just being born who squalls to his father and mother, “Why have you produced me? Can’t you do anything right at all?”

¹¹ Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Israel’s Creator, says: “What right have you to question what I do? Who are you to command me concerning the work of my hands? ¹² I have made the earth and created man upon it. With my hands I have stretched out the heavens and commanded all the vast myriads of stars. ¹³ I have raised up Cyrus^[a] to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will direct all his paths. He shall restore my city and free my captive people—and not for a reward!”

¹⁴ Jehovah says: “The Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans shall be subject to you. They shall come to you with all their merchandise, and it shall all be yours. They shall follow you as prisoners in chains and fall down on their knees before you and say, “The only God there is, is your God!”

¹⁵ Truly, O God of Israel, Savior, you work in strange, mysterious ways. ¹⁶ All who worship idols shall be disappointed and ashamed. ¹⁷ But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with eternal salvation; they shall never be disappointed in their God through all eternity. ¹⁸ For Jehovah created the heavens and earth and put everything in place, and he made the world to be lived in, not to be an empty chaos. I am Jehovah, he says, and there is no other! ¹⁹ I publicly proclaim bold promises; I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so that no one can know what I mean. And I didn’t tell Israel to ask me for what I didn’t plan to give! No, for I, Jehovah, speak only truth and righteousness.

²⁰ Gather together and come, you nations that escape from Cyrus’s hand. What fools they are who carry around the wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! ²¹ Consult together, argue your case and state your proofs that idol worship pays! Who but God has said that these things concerning Cyrus would come true? What idol ever told you they would happen? For there is no other God but me—a just God and a Savior—no, not one! ²² Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. ²³ I have sworn by myself, and I will never go back on my word, for it is true—that every knee in all the world shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear allegiance to my name.

²⁴ “In Jehovah is all my righteousness and strength,” the people shall declare. And all who were angry with him shall come to him and be ashamed. ²⁵ In Jehovah all the generations of Israel shall be justified, triumphant.

15 And I saw in heaven another mighty pageant showing things to come: Seven angels were assigned to carry down to earth the seven last plagues—and then at last God’s anger will be finished.

² Spread out before me was what seemed to be an ocean of fire and glass, and on it stood all those who had been victorious over the Evil Creature and his statue and his mark and number. All were holding harps of God, ^3-4 and they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

⁵ Then I looked and saw that the Holy of Holies of the temple in heaven was thrown wide open!

⁶ The seven angels who were assigned to pour out the seven plagues then came from the temple, clothed in spotlessly white linen, with golden belts across their chests. ⁷ And one of the four Living Beings handed each of them a golden flask filled with the terrible wrath of the Living God who lives forever and forever. ⁸ The temple was filled with smoke from his glory and power; and no one could enter until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.