M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 26
Thanksgiving for God’s Gifts. 1 When you have entered the land that the Lord, your God, is giving to you as an inheritance and you have taken possession of it and are dwelling in it, 2 you shall take the firstfruits of the produce of the earth in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you shall put them in a basket. You shall then bring them to the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen as a dwelling place for his name. 3 Go to the priest then in office and say, “I declare today to the Lord, your God, that I have come into the land that the Lord promised to our fathers to give us.” 4 The priest will then take the basket out of your hand and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord, your God. 5 You shall declare before the Lord, your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean,[a] and he went down into Egypt with a few people and he dwelt there becoming a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us and forced us to do hard labor. 7 We cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and took notice of our affliction, labor, and oppression. 8 The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying and awesome signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us a land, this land that is flowing with milk and honey. 10 Now I have brought the firstfruits of the land that you, O Lord, have given me.” Then place it before the Lord, your God, and worship the Lord, your God. 11 You and the Levites and the foreigner who lives with you will rejoice over every good thing that the Lord, your God, has given to you and your household.
12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of the produce every third year, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your town so that they might eat it and be satisfied. 13 Then you will declare before the Lord, your God, “I have brought these dedicated things from my house and have given them to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, just as you commanded me. I have not violated your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten any of it while I was in mourning, nor did I remove any of it while I was unclean. I did not offer any of it to the dead. I have harkened to the voice of the Lord, my God, and have done everything that you have commanded me.[b] 15 Look down from the heavens, your holy dwelling place, and bless the people of Israel and the land that you have given us as you had promised to our fathers, a land that is flowing with milk and honey.”
16 Covenant with God. The Lord, your God, commands you today to observe these statutes and decrees. Carefully fulfill them with all of your heart and all of your soul. 17 You have solemnly declared today that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will observe his statutes, commandments, and decrees, and that you will obey him, 18 and the Lord has solemnly promised you today that you will be his chosen people, as he had promised, and that you are to observe all of his commandments. 19 He will raise you up above every other nation in praise, fame, and honor. You will be a holy people[c] to the Lord, your God, as he has promised.
Psalm 117[a]
Universal Praise of God
1 Glorify the Lord, all you nations;[b]
praise him, all you peoples.
2 For his kindness toward us is constant,
and the faithfulness of the Lord will endure forever.
Alleluia.[c]
Psalm 118[d]
Thanksgiving for Salvation
1 [e]Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his kindness[f] endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His kindness endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His kindness endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord[g] say,
“His kindness endures forever.”
5 [h]In my distress I called out to the Lord;
he answered by setting me free.
6 With the Lord to protect me I am not afraid.
What can mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is at my side to offer me help;
I will look down upon my enemies.
8 [i]It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to place your trust in mortals.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to place your trust in princes.
10 [j]All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
11 They surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
they blazed like a fire in the midst of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
13 I was hard pressed and close to falling,
but the Lord came to my aid.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.[k]
15 Joyful shouts of triumph
ring out in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord has done wondrous deeds;
16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord has done wondrous deeds.”
17 I shall not die; rather I shall live
and recount[l] the works of the Lord.
18 Even though the Lord punished me harshly,
he did not hand me over to death.
19 [m]Open to me the gates of righteousness
so that I may enter them and praise the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous enter.
21 I thank you for having answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 [n]The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;[o]
let us exult and rejoice in it.
25 O Lord, grant us salvation.[p]
O Lord, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.[q]
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Holding leafy branches, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.[r]
28 [s]You are my God, and I will offer thanks to you;
you are my God, and I will extol you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his kindness endures forever.
Psalm 119[t]
Praise of God’s Law
Aleph
Chapter 53
1 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a sapling,
like a shoot in arid ground.
He had no beauty or majesty
that would cause us to look at him;
nothing in his appearance would attract us to him.
3 He was despised and shunned by others,
a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering.
We loathed him and regarded him as of no account,
as one from whom men avert their gaze.
4 Although it was our afflictions that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
we thought of him as stricken,
as struck down by God and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our offenses
and crushed for our iniquity;
the punishment that made us whole fell upon him,
and by his bruises we have been healed.
6 We had all gone astray like sheep,
each of us following his own way,
but the Lord laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
7 Although harshly treated and afflicted,
he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that keeps silent before its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned, he was taken away,
and who gave any thought to his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living
and stricken for the sins of his people.
9 They assigned him a grave with the wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
even though he had done no act of violence
nor had he ever spoken deceitfully.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord
to crush him with pain.
For if he gives his life as a sacrifice for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his life,
and through him the will of the Lord will be accomplished.
11 As a result of his anguish
my servant will behold the light and be content.
Through his humiliation he will justify many,
and their guilt he will bear.
12 Therefore, I will allot him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he exposed himself to death
and was counted among the transgressors,
even though he bore the sins of many
and interceded for the transgressors.
Prologue: The Birth of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth[a]
Chapter 1
The Genealogy of Jesus.[b] 1 The account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,[c] the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, with Tamar[d] being their mother.
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, with Rahab being his mother.
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.
Obed was the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After the deportation to Babylon,
Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubabbel the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Christ.[e]
17 Therefore, in total there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, another fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and another fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ.
18 The Birth of Jesus.[f] The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph was a just man and did not wish to expose her to the ordeal of public disgrace; therefore, he resolved to divorce her quietly.
20 After he had decided to follow this course of action, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary into your home as your wife. For this child has been conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you shall name him Jesus,[g] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had announced through the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
a name that means “God is with us.”[h]
24 When Joseph rose from sleep, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary into his home as his wife, 25 but he engaged in no marital relations[i] with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.
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