M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
22 “If you see someone’s ox or sheep wandering away, don’t pretend you didn’t see it; take it back to its owner. 2 If you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your farm and keep it there until the owner comes looking for it, and then give it to him. 3 The same applies to donkeys, clothing, or anything else you find. Keep it for its owner.
4 “If you see someone trying to get an ox or donkey onto its feet when it has slipped beneath its load,[a] don’t look the other way. Go and help!
5 “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. This is abhorrent to the Lord your God.
6 “If a bird’s nest is lying on the ground, or if you spy one in a tree, and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, don’t take the mother with the young. 7 Let her go, and take only the young. The Lord will bless you for it.
8 “Every new house must have a guardrail around the edge of the flat rooftop to prevent anyone from falling off and bringing guilt to both the house and its owner.
9 “Do not sow other crops in the rows of your vineyard. If you do, both the crops and the grapes shall be confiscated by the priests.[b]
10 “Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.
11 “Don’t wear clothing woven from two kinds of thread: for instance, wool and linen.
12 “You must sew tassels on the four corners of your cloaks.
13-14 “If a man marries a girl, then after sleeping with her accuses her of having had premarital intercourse with another man, saying, ‘She was not a virgin when I married her,’ 15 then the girl’s father and mother shall bring the proof of her virginity to the city judges.
16 “Her father shall tell them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he despises her 17-18 and has accused her of shameful things, claiming that she was not a virgin when she married; yet here is the proof.’ And they shall spread before the judges the blood-stained sheet from her marriage bed. The judges shall sentence the man to be whipped, 19 and fine him one hundred dollars[c] to be given to the girl’s father, for he has falsely accused a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife and he may never divorce her. 20 But if the man’s accusations are true, and she was not a virgin, 21 the judges shall take the girl to the door of her father’s home where the men of the city shall stone her to death. She has defiled Israel by flagrant crime, being a prostitute while living at home with her parents; and such evil must be cleansed from among you.
22 “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the other man’s wife must be killed; in this way evil will be cleansed from Israel. 23-24 If a girl who is engaged is seduced within the walls of a city, both she and the man who seduced her shall be taken outside the gates and stoned to death—the girl because she didn’t scream for help, and the man because he has violated the virginity of another man’s fiancée. 25-27 In this way you will reduce crime among you. But if this deed takes place out in the country, only the man shall die. The girl is as innocent as a murder victim; for it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to hear and rescue her out in the field. 28-29 If a man rapes a girl who is not engaged and is caught in the act, he must pay a fine[d] to the girl’s father and marry her; he may never divorce her. 30 A man shall not sleep with his father’s widow[e] since she belonged to his father.
110 Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah,[a] “Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.”
2 Jehovah has established your throne[b] in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies. 3 In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes.[c] And your strength shall be renewed day by day like morning dew. 4 Jehovah has taken oath and will not rescind his vow that you are a priest forever like[d] Melchizedek. 5 God stands beside you to protect you. He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger. 6 He will punish the nations and fill them with their dead. He will crush many heads. 7 But he himself shall be refreshed from springs along the way.
111 1-2 Hallelujah! I want to express publicly before his people my heartfelt thanks to God for his mighty miracles. All who are thankful should ponder them with me. 3 For his miracles demonstrate his honor, majesty, and eternal goodness.
4 Who can forget the wonders he performs—deeds of mercy and of grace? 5 He gives food to those who trust him; he never forgets his promises. 6 He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the land of Israel, though it was the home of many nations living there. 7 All he does is just and good, and all his laws are right, 8 for they are formed from truth and goodness and stand firm forever. 9 He has paid a full ransom for his people; now they are always free to come to Jehovah (what a holy, awe-inspiring name that is).
10 How can men be wise? The only way to begin is by reverence for God. For growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws. Praise his name forever.
49 Listen to me, all of you in far-off lands: The Lord called me before my birth. From within the womb he called me by my name. 2 God will make my words of judgment sharp as swords. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand; I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.
3 He said to me: “You are my servant, a prince of power[a] with God, and you shall bring me glory.”
4 I replied, “But my work for them seems all in vain; I have spent my strength for them without response. Yet I leave it all with God for my reward.”
5 “And now,” said the Lord—the Lord who formed me from my mother’s womb to serve him who commissioned me to restore to him his people Israel, who has given me the strength to perform this task and honored me for doing it!— 6 “you shall do more than restore Israel to me. I will make you a Light to the nations of the world to bring my salvation to them too.”
7 The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the One who is despised, rejected by mankind, and kept beneath the heel of the world’s rulers: “Kings shall stand at attention when you pass by; princes shall bow low because the Lord has chosen you; he, the faithful Lord, the Holy One of Israel, chooses you.”
8-9 The Lord says, “Your request has come at a favorable time. I will keep you from harm and give you as a token and pledge to Israel, proof that I will reestablish the land of Israel and reassign it to its own people again. Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, ‘Come out! I am giving you your freedom!’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on the grassy hills. 10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst; the searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the Lord in his mercy will lead them beside the cool waters. 11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them; the highways shall be raised above the valleys. 12 See, my people shall return from far away, from north and west and south.”
13 Sing for joy, O heavens; shout, O earth. Break forth with song, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion upon them in their sorrow.
14 Yet they say, “My Lord deserted us; he has forgotten us.”
15 “Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. 16 See, I have tattooed your name upon my palm, and ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins. 17 Soon your rebuilders shall come and chase away all those destroying you. 18 Look and see, for the Lord has vowed that all your enemies shall come and be your slaves. They will be as jewels to display, as bridal ornaments.
19 “Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land shall soon be crowded with your people, and your enemies who enslaved you shall be far away. 20 The generations born in exile shall return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’ 21 Then you will think to yourself, ‘Who has given me all these? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile, leaving me here alone. Who bore these? Who raised them for me?’”
22 The Lord God says, “See, I will give a signal to the Gentiles, and they shall carry your little sons back to you in their arms, and your daughters on their shoulders. 23 Kings and queens shall serve you; they shall care for all your needs. They shall bow to the earth before you and lick the dust from off your feet; then you shall know I am the Lord. Those who wait for me shall never be ashamed.”
24 Who can snatch the prey from the hands of a mighty man? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go? 25 But the Lord says, “Even the captives of the most mighty and most terrible shall all be freed; for I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. 26 I will feed your enemies with their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.”
19 After this I heard the shouting of a vast crowd in heaven, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Salvation is from our God. Honor and authority belong to him alone; 2 for his judgments are just and true. He has punished the Great Prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sin;[a] and he has avenged the murder of his servants.”
3 Again and again their voices rang, “Praise the Lord! The smoke from her burning ascends forever and forever!”
4 Then the twenty-four Elders and four Living Beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting upon the throne, and said, “Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”
5 And out of the throne came a voice that said, “Praise our God, all you his servants, small and great, who fear him.”
6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shouting of a huge crowd, or like the waves of a hundred oceans crashing on the shore, or like the mighty rolling of great thunder, “Praise the Lord. For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him; for the time has come for the wedding banquet of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She is permitted to wear the cleanest and whitest and finest of linens.” (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God.)
9 And the angel[b] dictated this sentence to me: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “God himself has stated this.”
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No! Don’t! For I am a servant of God just as you are, and as your brother Christians are, who testify of their faith in Jesus. Worship God. The purpose of all prophecy and of all I have shown you is to tell about Jesus.”[c]
11 Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse standing there; and the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True—the one who justly punishes and makes war. 12 His eyes were like flames, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on his forehead,[d] and only he knew its meaning. 13 He was clothed with garments dipped in blood, and his title was “The Word of God.”[e] 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in finest linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.
15 In his mouth he held a sharp sword to strike down the nations; he ruled them with an iron grip; and he trod the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. 16 On his robe and thigh was written this title: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sunshine, shouting loudly to the birds, “Come! Gather together for the supper of the Great God! 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, and captains, and great generals; of horses and riders; and of all humanity, both great and small, slave and free.”
19 Then I saw the Evil Creature gathering the governments of the earth and their armies to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. 20 And the Evil Creature was captured, and with him the False Prophet,[f] who could do mighty miracles when the Evil Creature was present—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the Evil Creature’s mark, and who worshiped his statue. Both of them—the Evil Creature and his False Prophet—were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire that burns with sulphur. 21 And their entire army was killed with the sharp sword in the mouth of the one riding the white horse, and all the birds of heaven were gorged with their flesh.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.