M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 29
Feast of Trumpets.[a] 1 “ ‘On the first day of the seventh month you will have a holy assembly. You are not to do any heavy labor. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. 2 You will offer a pleasing fragrance to the Lord, a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male year-old lambs without defect. 3 The cereal offering is to be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a young bull, two-tenths of an ephah for a ram, 4 and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs. 5 The sin offering is one kid goat to make your atonement. 6 These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings along with their cereal offerings and their drink offerings, according to custom. They are offerings made by fire, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.
Day of Atonement. 7 “ ‘On the tenth day of the seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You are to humble yourselves and are not to do any heavy labor.[b] 8 You will present a burnt offering to the Lord as a pleasing fragrance: one young bull, one ram, and seven male year-old lambs, without defect. 9 Their grain offering is to be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the young bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the one ram, 10 and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs. 11 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular burnt offerings with their cereal and drink offerings.
12 Feast of Tabernacles.[c]“ ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You are not to do any heavy labor. You are to celebrate a feast of the Lord for seven days. 13 Present an offering made by fire as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord: thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs. They are to be without defect. 14 Their cereal offering is to be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen young bulls, two-tenths of an ephah for each of the two rams, 15 and a tenth of an ephah for each of the fourteen lambs. 16 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
17 “ ‘On the second day offer twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs without defect. 18 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bulls, rams, and lambs will be in the customary number. 19 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
20 “ ‘Then on the third day offer eleven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs, without defect. 21 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bulls, rams, and lambs will be in the customary number. 22 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
23 “ ‘Then on the fourth day offer ten young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs, without defect. 24 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bulls, rams, and lambs will be in the customary number. 25 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
26 “ ‘Then on the fifth day offer nine young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs, without defect. 27 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bulls, rams, and lambs will be in the customary number. 28 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
29 “ ‘Then on the sixth day offer eight young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs, without defect. 30 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bulls, rams, and lambs will be in the customary number. 31 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
32 “ ‘Then on the seventh day offer seven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male year-old lambs, without defect. 33 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bulls, rams, and lambs will be in the customary number. 34 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
35 “ ‘On the eighth day you are to have a holy assembly. You are not to do any heavy labor. 36 You are to present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord: one young bull, one ram, and seven male year-old lambs, without defect. 37 The cereal offering and the drink offering for the young bull, ram, and lambs will be in the customary number. 38 The sin offering is one kid goat. This is in addition to the regular burnt offerings along with their cereal and drink offerings.
39 “ ‘You will present these to the Lord on your appointed feast days, in addition to your vow offerings, your free-will offerings, your cereal offerings, your drink offerings, and your peace offerings.’ ”
40 Moses spoke to the people of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.[d]
Book III—Psalms 73–89[a]
Psalm 73[b]
False Happiness of the Wicked
1 A psalm of Asaph.[c]
God is truly good to the upright,[d]
to those who are pure in heart.
2 [e]But as for me, I nearly lost my balance;[f]
I was almost at the point of stumbling.
3 For I was filled with envy of the arrogant
when I perceived how the wicked prosper.
4 [g]They endure no painful suffering;
their bodies are healthy and well fed.
5 They are not plagued with burdens common to all;
the troubles of life do not afflict them.
6 So they wear arrogance like a necklace
and don violence like a robe.
7 Their callous hearts overflow with malice,
and their minds are completely taken up with evil plans.
8 They mock and pour forth their malevolence;
in their haughtiness they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths rage against the heavens
while their tongues are never stilled on the earth.
10 [h]So the people blindly follow them
and find nothing offensive in their words.[i]
11 They say: “How does God know?
Does the Most High notice anything?”
12 Such are the wicked,
as they pile up wealth, without any concerns.
13 [j]Is it in vain that I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence?
14 For I am stricken day after day
and punished every morning.
15 If I had decided, “I will speak like them,”
I would not have been true to your children.[k]
16 [l]When I tried to understand all this,
I found it too difficult for me,
17 until I entered the sanctuary of God[m]
and realized what their final end would be.
18 [n]Indeed, you set them on a slippery slope
and cast them headlong into utter ruin.
19 How suddenly they are destroyed,
completely wiped out by terrors!
20 When you arise, O Lord,
you will dismiss them
as one discards a dream on awakening.
21 [o]When my heart was embittered
and my soul was deeply tormented,
22 I was stupid and unable to comprehend—
like a brute beast in your presence.
23 [p]Yet I am always with you;
you grasp me by the right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me into glory.[q]
25 Whom do I have in heaven except you?
And besides you there is nothing else I desire on earth.
26 Even should my heart and my flesh[r] fail,
God is the rock of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 [s]But all those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy those who are unfaithful to you.
28 As for me, my happiness is to be near God,
and I have made the Lord God my refuge;
I will proclaim all your works[t]
at the gates of the Daughter of Zion.
Chapter 21
The Defeat of Babylon[a]
1 An oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping over the Negeb,[b]
there comes from the desert,
from a land that inspires terror,
2 a harsh vision that is shown to me:
the traitor betrays
and the despoiler despoils.
Go forth, O Elam;[c]
lay siege, O Media.
I will bring to an end
all the pain she has inflicted.
3 Therefore, my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me
like those of a woman in labor.
I am so distraught that I cannot hear;
I am too frightened even to look.
4 My mind reels,
and I am overcome with dread;
the twilight I yearned for
has become horrifying to me.
5 They set the table;
they spread out the rugs;
they eat and they drink.
Rise up, O princes;
oil your shields.
6 For this is what the Lord has said to me:
Go forth and post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
7 If he should see cavalry,
horsemen riding in pairs,
men mounted on donkeys,
men mounted on camels,
instruct him to watch closely
and to listen diligently.
8 Then the lookout shouted,
“I stand on the watchtower, O Lord,
all day long,
and I remain stationed at my post
throughout the night.
9 Behold, here come the cavalry now,
horsemen riding in pairs.”
Then the Lord responded:
Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
have been smashed to the ground.
10 O my people,
you who have been trodden
upon the threshing floor,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
from the God of Israel,
I have proclaimed to you.
Edom
11 An oracle concerning Edom:
Someone is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, when will the night end?
Watchman, when will it end?”
12 The watchman replies,
“Morning will come, and so will the night.
If you wish to ask, do so;
come back again.”
Arabia
13 An oracle concerning Arabia:
In the thickets of the desert you will encamp,
you caravans of Dedanites.
14 Bring water to the thirsty
and greet the fugitives with bread,
you inhabitants of the land of Tema.[d]
15 For they have fled from the sword,
from the sharp edge of the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the stress of battles.
16 For these are the words spoken to me by the Lord: Within a year, as a hired worker reckons time, all the glory of Kedar[e] will come to an end. 17 Hardly any of Kedar’s valiant warriors will be left, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Warning against False Teachers[a]
Chapter 2
False Teachers Will Arise. 1 Just as there were false prophets who arose among the people, so there will be false teachers among you. They will introduce their disruptive views and even deny the very Master who redeemed them, thus bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will be seduced by their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be brought into disrepute. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with concocted stories.
The Condemnation of False Teachers. However, their condemnation has been hanging over them for a long time, and the destruction awaiting them does not slumber. 4 For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but he cast them into the dark abyss to be chained, where they are being held until the judgment.[b] 5 Nor did he spare the ancient world,[c] even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, one of eight, when he brought a flood upon the world with its godless people.
6 God also reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, thereby condemning them to total ruin and making them an example of what awaited the ungodly. 7 However, he rescued Lot, an upright man who was sickened by the licentiousness of the lawless society in which he lived 8 for that man was greatly tormented in his righteous soul by the crimes that he saw and about which he was told day after day.
9 Therefore, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials and to hold the wicked for punishment until the Day of Judgment. 10 Above all, he will punish those who succumb to the desires of their corrupt human nature and show no respect for authority.
The Ways of False Teachers. Bold and headstrong, they are not afraid to insult celestial beings, 11 whereas angels, despite their superior strength and power, do not bring slanderous accusations against such men in the Lord’s presence.[d] 12 These men are like wild beasts, mere creatures of instinct born to be caught and killed.
They pour abuse on things they do not understand, and in their corruption they also will be destroyed, 13 receiving the penalty[e] for doing wrong. They regard it as a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. While they share your table, they are ugly blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures.
14 They have eyes that are always on the trail of adultery, insatiable in their desire for sinful pursuits. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are fixed on greed. Truly, they are an accursed brood.[f] 15 They have abandoned the straight path and have gone astray, following in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor,[g] who loved to receive payment for wrongdoing. 16 However, he received a rebuke for his crime when a mute donkey spoke with a human voice and put a stop to the prophet’s madness.
17 Such people are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 They speak boastful words devoid of meaning, and by arousing licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who are just escaping from living in error.
19 They promise them freedom, although they themselves are slaves of depravity.[h] For people are slaves of whatever has mastered them. 20 If they have escaped the world’s defilements through coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then again become entangled and are overpowered, they are worse off in this latter state than they were before.
21 It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back and abandon the holy commandment that was handed on to them. 22 What happened to them manifests the truth of the proverbs:
“The dog returns to its own vomit,”[i]
and
“The washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
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