M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Going to War
20 When you go to war against your enemies, you might see that they have horses and chariots. They might even have an army stronger than yours. But don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will be with you. After all, he brought you up out of Egypt. 2 Just before you go into battle, the priest will come forward. He’ll speak to the army. 3 He’ll say, “Men of Israel, listen to me. Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t be scared. Don’t be afraid. Don’t panic or be terrified by them. 4 The Lord your God is going with you. He’ll fight for you. He’ll help you win the battle over your enemies.”
5 The officers will speak to the army. They will say, “Has anyone built a new house and not started to live in it? Let him go home. If he doesn’t, he might die in battle. Then someone else will live in his house. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not started to enjoy it? Let him go home. If he doesn’t, he might die in battle. Then someone else will enjoy his vineyard. 7 Has anyone promised to be married to a woman but hasn’t done it yet? Let him go home. If he doesn’t, he might die in battle. Then someone else will marry her.” 8 The officers will continue, “Is anyone afraid or scared? Let him go home. Then the other soldiers won’t lose hope too.” 9 The officers will finish speaking to the army. When they do, they’ll appoint commanders over it.
10 Suppose you march up to attack a city. Before you attack it, offer to make peace with its people. 11 Suppose they accept your offer and open their gates. Then force all the people in the city to be your slaves. They will have to work for you. 12 But suppose they refuse your offer of peace and prepare for battle. Then surround that city. Get ready to attack it. 13 The Lord your God will hand it over to you. When he does, kill all the men with your swords. 14 But you can take the women and children for yourselves. You can also take the livestock and everything else in the city. What you have captured from your enemies you can use for yourselves. The Lord your God has given it to you. 15 That’s how you must treat all the cities far away from you. Those cities don’t belong to the nations that are nearby.
16 But what about the cities the Lord your God is giving you as your own? Kill everything that breathes in those cities. 17 Completely destroy them. Wipe out the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. That’s what the Lord your God commanded you to do. 18 If you don’t destroy them, they’ll teach you to do all the things the Lord hates. He hates the way they worship their gods. If you do those things, you will sin against the Lord your God.
19 Suppose you surround a city and get ready to attack it. And suppose you fight against it for a long time in order to capture it. Then don’t chop down its trees and destroy them. You can eat their fruit. So don’t cut them down. Are the trees people? So why should you attack them? 20 But you can cut down trees that you know aren’t fruit trees. You can build war machines out of their wood. You can use them until you capture the city you are fighting against.
Book V
Psalms 107–150
107 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
2 Let those who have been set free by the Lord tell their story.
He set them free from the power of the enemy.
3 He brought them back from other lands.
He brought them back from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some of them wandered in deserts that were dry and empty.
They couldn’t find a city where they could make their homes.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
Their lives were slipping away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them straight
to a city where they could make their homes.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
9 He gives those who are thirsty all the water they want.
He gives those who are hungry all the good food they can eat.
10 Others lived in the deepest darkness.
They suffered as prisoners in iron chains.
11 That’s because they hadn’t obeyed the commands of God.
They had refused to follow the plans of the Most High God.
12 So he made them do work that was hard and bitter.
They tripped and fell, and there was no one to help them.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the deepest darkness.
He broke their chains off.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
16 He breaks down gates that are made of bronze.
He cuts through bars that are made of iron.
17 Others were foolish. They suffered because of their sins.
They suffered because they wouldn’t obey the Lord.
18 They refused to eat anything.
They came close to passing through the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
20 He gave his command and healed them.
He saved them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings.
Let them talk about what he has done as they sing with joy.
23 Some people sailed out on the ocean in ships.
They traded goods on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord.
They saw the wonderful deeds he did on the ocean.
25 He spoke and stirred up a storm.
It lifted the waves high.
26 They rose up to the heavens. Then they went down deep into the ocean.
In that kind of danger the people’s boldness melted away.
27 They were unsteady like people who have become drunk.
They didn’t know what to do.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he brought them out of their troubles.
29 He made the storm as quiet as a whisper.
The waves of the ocean calmed down.
30 The people were glad when the ocean became calm.
Then he guided them to the harbor they were looking for.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
32 Let them honor him among his people who gather for worship.
Let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
33 He turned rivers into a desert.
He turned flowing springs into thirsty ground.
34 He turned land that produced crops into a salty land where nothing could grow.
He did it because the people who lived there were evil.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water.
He turned the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.
36 He brought hungry people there to live.
They built a city where they could make their homes.
37 They planted fields and vineyards
that produced large crops.
38 He blessed the people, and they greatly increased their numbers.
He kept their herds from getting smaller.
39 Then the number of God’s people got smaller.
They were made humble by trouble, suffering and sorrow.
40 The God who looks down on proud nobles
made them wander in a desert where no one lives.
41 But he lifted needy people out of their suffering.
He made their families increase like flocks of sheep.
42 Honest people see it and are filled with joy.
But no one who is evil has anything to say.
43 Let those who are wise pay attention to these things.
Let them think about the loving deeds of the Lord.
Babylon Will Fall
47 “City of Babylon,
go down and sit in the dust.
Leave your throne and sit on the ground.
Queen city of the Babylonians,
your life will not be comfortable
and easy anymore.
2 Get millstones and grind some flour like a female slave.
Take off your veil.
Lift up your skirts. Make your legs bare.
Wade through the streams.
3 Everyone will see your naked body.
Everyone will see your shame.
I will pay you back for what you did.
I will not spare any of your people.”
4 The one who sets us free is the Holy One of Israel.
His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
5 The Lord says, “Queen city of the Babylonians,
go into a dark prison. Sit there quietly.
You will not be called
the queen of kingdoms anymore.
6 I was angry with my people.
I treated them as if they did not belong to me.
I handed them over to you.
And you did not show them any pity.
You even placed heavy loads on their old people.
7 You said, ‘I am queen forever!’
But you did not think about what you were doing.
You did not consider how things might turn out.
8 “So listen, you who love pleasure.
You think you are safe and secure.
You say to yourself,
‘I am like a god.
No one is greater than I am.
I’ll never be a widow.
And my children will never be taken away from me.’
9 But both of these things will happen to you in a moment.
They will take place on a single day.
You will lose your children.
And you will become a widow.
That is what will happen to you.
All your evil magic
and powerful spells will not save you.
10 You have felt secure in your evil ways.
You have said, ‘No one sees what I’m doing.’
Your wisdom and knowledge lead you astray.
You say to yourself,
‘I am like a god. No one is greater than I am.’
11 So horrible trouble will come on you.
You will not know how to use your evil magic to make it go away.
Great trouble will fall on you.
No amount of money can keep it away.
Something terrible will happen to you all at once.
You will not see it coming ahead of time.
12 “So keep on casting your magic spells.
Keep on practicing your evil magic.
You have been doing those things ever since you were a child.
Perhaps they will help you.
Maybe they will scare your enemies away.
13 All the advice you have received
has only worn you out!
Let those who study the heavens come forward.
They claim to know what is going to happen
by watching the stars every month.
So let them save you from the trouble
that is coming on you.
14 They are just like straw.
Fire will burn them up.
They can’t even save themselves
from the powerful flames.
These are not like coals that can warm anyone.
This is not like a fire to sit by.
15 They can’t do you any good.
You have done business with them ever since you were a child.
You have always asked them for advice.
All of them are bewildered and continue in their own ways.
None of them can save you.”
Babylon the Great Prostitute Sits on the Beast
17 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came to me. He said, “Come. I will show you how the great prostitute will be punished. She is the one who sits by many waters. 2 The kings of the earth took part in her evil ways. The people living on earth were drunk with the wine of her terrible sins.”
3 Then in a vision the angel carried me away to a desert. There the Holy Spirit showed me a woman sitting on a bright red beast. It was covered with names that say evil things about God. It had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and bright red. She was gleaming with gold, jewels and pearls. In her hand she held a golden cup filled with things that God hates. It was filled with her terrible, dirty sins. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery. Here is what it said.
The Great City of Babylon
The Mother of Prostitutes
The Mother of Everything on Earth that God Hates
6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people. They are the ones who are witnesses about Jesus.
When I saw her, I was very amazed. 7 Then the angel said to me, “Why are you amazed? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman. And I will explain the mystery of the beast she rides on. The beast is the one who has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw used to exist and now does not. Yet it will come up out of the Abyss and be destroyed. Some people on the earth will be amazed when they see the beast. Their names have not been written in the book of life from the time the world was created. They will be amazed at the beast. That’s because it will come again even though it used to exist and now does not.
9 “Here is a problem that you have to be wise to understand. The seven heads are seven hills that the woman sits on. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is ruling, and the other has still not come. When he does come, he must remain for only a little while. 11 The beast who used to exist, and now does not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the other seven. He will be destroyed.
12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings. They have not yet received a kingdom. But for one hour they will receive authority to rule together with the beast. 13 They have only one purpose. So they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will have victory over them. That’s because he is the most powerful Lord of all and the greatest King of all. His appointed, chosen and faithful followers will be with him.”
15 Then the angel spoke to me. “You saw the waters the prostitute sits on,” he said. “They stand for all the nations of the world, no matter what their race or language is. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will destroy her and leave her naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose. So they agreed to give the beast their royal authority. They will give him this authority until God’s words come true. 18 The woman you saw stands for the great city of Babylon. That city rules over the kings of the earth.”
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