M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Love the Lord Your God
6 The Lord your God has directed me to teach you his commands, rules and laws. Obey them in the land you will take over when you go across the Jordan River. 2 Then you, your children and their children after them will honor the Lord your God as long as you live. Obey all his rules and commands I’m giving you. If you do, you will enjoy long life. 3 Israel, listen to me. Make sure you obey me. Then things will go well with you. The number of your people will increase greatly in a land that has plenty of milk and honey. That’s what the Lord, the God of your parents, promised you.
4 Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength. 6 The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts. 7 Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. 8 Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.
10 The Lord your God will bring you into the land of Canaan. He gave his word. He promised he would give the land to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The land has large, wealthy cities you didn’t build. 11 It has houses filled with all kinds of good things you didn’t provide. The land has wells you didn’t dig. And it has vineyards and groves of olive trees you didn’t plant. You will have plenty to eat. 12 But be careful that you don’t forget the Lord. Remember that he brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.
13 Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve. When you make promises, do so in his name. 14 Don’t serve the gods of the nations around you. 15 The Lord your God is among you. He wants you to worship only him. If you worship other gods, God will be very angry with you. And he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Don’t test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to obey the Lord’s commands. Obey the terms and rules he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes. Then things will go well with you. You will go in and take over the land. It’s the good land the Lord promised to your people of long ago. 19 You will drive out all your enemies to make room for you. That’s what the Lord said would happen.
20 Later on, your child might ask you, “What is the meaning of the terms, rules and laws the Lord our God has commanded you to obey?” 21 If they do ask you, tell them, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the Lord used his mighty hand to bring us out of Egypt. 22 With our own eyes we saw the Lord send amazing signs. They were great and terrible. He sent them on Egypt and Pharaoh and everyone in his house. 23 But the Lord brought us out of Egypt. He planned to bring us into the land of Canaan and give it to us. It’s the land he promised to our people of long ago. 24 The Lord our God commanded us to obey all his rules. He commanded us to honor him. If we do, we will always succeed and be kept alive. That’s what is happening today. 25 We must make sure we obey the whole law in the sight of the Lord our God. That’s what he has commanded us to do. If we obey his law, we’ll be doing what he requires of us.”
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 Lord, I will sing about your great love forever.
For all time to come, I will tell how faithful you are.
2 I will tell everyone that your love stands firm forever.
I will tell them that you are always faithful, even in heaven itself.
3 You said, “Here is the covenant I have made with my chosen one.
Here is the promise I have made to my servant David.
4 ‘I will make your family line continue forever.
I will make your kingdom secure for all time to come.’ ”
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your wonderful deeds.
When your holy angels gather together,
they praise you for how faithful you are.
6 Who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who among the angels is like the Lord?
7 God is highly respected among his holy angels.
He’s more wonderful than all those who are around him.
8 Lord God who rules over all, who is like you?
Lord, you are mighty. You are faithful in everything you do.
9 You rule over the stormy sea.
When its waves rise up, you calm them down.
10 You crushed Egypt and killed her people.
With your powerful arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens belong to you. The earth is yours also.
You made the world and everything that is in it.
12 You created everything from north to south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you with joy.
13 Your arm is powerful.
Your hand is strong.
Your right hand is mighty.
14 Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
Your faithful love leads the way in front of you.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to shout praise to you.
Lord, they live in the light of your kindness.
16 All day long they are full of joy because of who you are.
They celebrate the fact that you do what is right.
17 You bring them glory and give them strength.
You are pleased to honor our king.
18 Our king is like a shield that keeps us safe.
He belongs to the Lord.
He belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
19 You once spoke to your faithful people in a vision.
You said, “I have given strength to a soldier.
I have raised up a young man from among the people.
20 I have found my servant David.
I have poured my sacred oil on his head.
21 My powerful hand will keep him going.
My mighty arm will give him strength.
22 No enemy will have the victory over him.
No evil person will treat him badly.
23 I will crush the king’s enemies.
I will completely destroy them.
24 I will love him and be faithful to him.
Because of me his power will increase.
25 I will give him a great kingdom.
It will reach from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River.
26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father.
You are my God. You are my Rock and Savior.’
27 I will also make him my oldest son.
Among all the kings of the earth, he will be the most important one.
28 I will continue to love him forever.
I will never break my covenant with him.
29 I will make his family line continue forever.
His kingdom will last as long as the heavens.
30 “What if his sons turn away from my laws
and do not follow them?
31 What if they disobey my orders
and fail to keep my commands?
32 Then I will punish them for their sins.
I will strike them with a rod.
I will whip them for their evil acts.
33 But I will not stop loving David.
I will always be faithful to him.
34 I will not break my covenant.
I will not go back on my word.
35 Once and for all, I have made a promise.
It is based on my holiness.
And I will not lie to David.
36 His family line will continue forever.
His kingdom will last as long as the sun.
37 It will last forever like the moon,
that faithful witness in the sky.”
38 But you have turned your back on your anointed king.
You have been very angry with him.
39 You have broken the covenant you made with him.
You have thrown your servant’s crown into the dirt.
40 You have broken through the walls around his city.
You have completely destroyed his secure places.
41 All those who pass by have carried off what belonged to him.
His neighbors make fun of him.
42 You have made his enemies strong.
You have made all of them happy.
43 You have made his sword useless.
You have not helped him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his glory.
You have knocked his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his life.
You have covered him with shame.
46 Lord, how long will you hide yourself? Will it be forever?
How long will your anger burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is.
You have created all people for such a useless purpose!
48 Who can live and not die?
Who can escape the power of the grave?
49 Lord, where is the great love you used to have?
You faithfully promised it to David.
50 Lord, remember how my enemies have made fun of me.
I’ve had to put up with mean words from all the nations.
51 Lord, your enemies have said mean things.
They have laughed at everything your anointed king has done.
52 Give praise to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
The Lord Will Judge the Nations
34 Nations, come near and listen to me!
Pay attention to what I’m about to say.
Let the earth and everything in it listen.
Let the world and everything that comes out of it pay attention.
2 The Lord is angry with all the nations.
His anger is against all their armies.
He will totally destroy them.
He will have them killed.
3 Those who are killed won’t be buried.
Their dead bodies will be thrown on the ground.
They will stink.
Their blood will cover the mountains.
4 All the stars in the sky will vanish.
The heavens will be rolled up like a scroll.
All the stars in the sky will fall like dried-up leaves from a vine.
They will drop like wrinkled figs from a fig tree.
5 The sword of the Lord will finish its deadly work in the sky.
Then it will come down to strike Edom.
He will totally destroy that nation.
6 His sword will be red with blood.
It will be covered with fat.
The blood will flow like the blood
of lambs and goats being sacrificed.
The fat will be like the fat
taken from the kidneys of rams.
That’s because the Lord will offer a sacrifice
in the city of Bozrah.
He will kill many people in the land of Edom.
7 The people and their leaders will be killed
like wild oxen and young bulls.
Their land will be wet with their blood.
The dust will be covered with their fat.
8 That’s because the Lord has set aside a day to pay Edom back.
He has set aside a year to pay them back. He will pay them back for what they did to Zion.
9 The streams of Edom will be turned into tar.
Its dust will be turned into blazing sulfur.
Its land will become burning tar.
10 The fire will keep burning night and day.
It can’t be put out.
Its smoke will go up forever.
Edom will lie empty for all time to come.
No one will ever travel through it again.
11 The desert owl and screech owl will make it their home.
The great owl and the raven will build their nests there.
God will use his measuring line
to show how completely Edom will be destroyed.
He will use his plumb line
to show how empty Edom will become.
12 Edom’s nobles won’t have anything left there
that can be called a kingdom.
All its princes will vanish.
13 Thorns will cover its forts.
Bushes and weeds will cover its safest places.
It will become a home for wild dogs.
It will become a place where owls live.
14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas.
Wild goats will call out to each other.
Night creatures will also lie down there.
They will find places where they can rest.
15 Owls will make their nests and lay their eggs there.
And they will hatch them.
They will take care of their little ones
under the shadow of their wings.
Male and female falcons will also gather there.
16 Look in the book of the Lord. Here is what you will read there.
None of those animals will be missing.
Male and female alike will be there.
The Lord himself has commanded it.
And his Spirit will gather them together.
17 The Lord will decide what part of the land goes to each animal.
Then he will give each one its share.
It will belong to them forever.
And they will live there for all time to come.
The Throne in Heaven
4 After this I looked, and there in front of me was a door standing open in heaven. I heard the voice I had heard before. It sounded like a trumpet. The voice said, “Come up here. I will show you what must happen after this.” 2 At once the Holy Spirit gave me a vision. There in front of me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 The one who sat there shone like jasper and ruby. Around the throne was a rainbow shining like an emerald. 4 Twenty-four other thrones surrounded that throne. Twenty-four elders were sitting on them. The elders were dressed in white. They had gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and thunder. Seven lamps were blazing in front of the throne. These stand for the seven spirits of God. 6 There was something that looked like a sea of glass in front of the throne. It was as clear as crystal.
In the inner circle, around the throne, were four living creatures. They were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first creature looked like a lion. The second looked like an ox. The third had a man’s face. The fourth looked like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings. Each creature was covered all over with eyes. It had eyes even under its wings. Day and night, they never stop saying,
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God who rules over all.’ (Isaiah 6:3)
He was, and he is, and he will come.”
9 The living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne. He lives for ever and ever. 10 At the same time, the 24 elders fall down and worship the one who sits on the throne. He lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns in front of the throne. They say,
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God!
You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.
You are worthy because you created all things.
They were created and they exist.
This is the way you planned it.”
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.