M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 22
Song of Thanksgiving.[a] 1 David proclaimed the words of this song to the Lord when the Lord had rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul.(A) 2 He said:(B)
O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
3 my God, my rock of refuge!
My shield, my saving horn,[b]
my stronghold, my refuge,
my savior, from violence you keep me safe.(C)
4 Praised be the Lord, I exclaim!
I have been delivered from my enemies.
5 The breakers of death surged round about me,
the menacing floods[c] terrified me;
6 The cords of Sheol tightened;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.
7 In my distress I called out: Lord!
I cried out to my God;
From his temple[d] he heard my voice,
my cry reached his ears.
8 The earth rocked and shook;[e]
the foundations of the heavens trembled;
they shook as his wrath flared up.
9 Smoke rose in his nostrils,
a devouring fire from his mouth;
it kindled coals into flame.
10 He parted the heavens and came down,
a dark cloud under his feet.(D)
11 Mounted on a cherub[f] he flew,
borne along on the wings of the wind.(E)
12 He made darkness the cover about him,
a mass of water, heavy thunderheads.
13 From the brightness of his presence
coals were kindled to flame.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice resound.
15 He let fly arrows and scattered them;
lightning, and dispersed them.(F)
16 Then the bed of the sea appeared;
the world’s foundations lay bare,
At the roar of the Lord,
at the storming breath of his nostrils.(G)
17 He reached down from on high and seized me,
drew me out of the deep waters.(H)
18 He rescued me from my mighty enemy,
from foes too powerful for me.
19 They attacked me on a day of distress,
but the Lord came to my support.
20 He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
21 The Lord acknowledged my righteousness;
rewarded my clean hands.
22 For I kept the ways of the Lord;
I was not disloyal to my God.
23 His laws were all before me,
his decrees I did not cast aside.
24 I was honest toward him;
I was on guard against sin.
25 So the Lord rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 (I)Toward the faithful you are faithful;[g]
to the honest you are honest;
27 Toward the sincere you are sincere;
but to the perverse you are devious.
28 Humble people you save,
though on the haughty your eyes look down.
29 You are my lamp, O Lord!
My God brightens the darkness about me.
30 With you I can rush an armed band,
with my God to help I can leap a wall.
31 God’s way is unerring;
the Lord’s promise is tried and true;
he is a shield for all who trust in him.(J)
32 Truly, who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is the rock?
33 This God who girded me with might,
kept my way unerring,
34 Who made my feet swift as a deer’s,
set me safe on the heights,(K)
35 Who trained my hands for war,
my arms to bend even a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me your protecting shield,
and your help has made me great.
37 You gave me room to stride;
my feet never stumbled.
38 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
39 I struck them down, and they did not rise;
they fell dead at my feet.
40 You girded me with strength for war;
subdued adversaries at my feet.
41 My foes you put to flight before me;
those who hated me I destroyed.
42 They cried for help, but no one saved them,
cried to the Lord but got no answer.
43 I ground them fine as the dust of the earth;
like mud in the streets I trod them down.
44 You rescued me from the strife of my people;
you made me head over nations.
A people I had not known became my slaves;
45 Foreigners cringed before me;
as soon as they heard of me they obeyed.
46 Their courage failed;
they came trembling from their fortresses.
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock!
Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation.
48 O God who granted me vindication,
subdued peoples under me,
49 and helped me escape from my enemies,
Truly you have exalted me above my adversaries,
from the violent you have rescued me.
50 Thus I will proclaim you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.(L)
51 You have given great victories to your king,
and shown kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
Chapter 2
The Council of Jerusalem.[a] 1 Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,[b] taking Titus along also.(A) 2 I went up in accord with a revelation,[c] and I presented to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.(B) 3 Moreover, not even[d] Titus, who was with me, although he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised,(C) 4 but because of the false brothers[e] secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus,(D) that they might enslave us— 5 to them we did not submit even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel[f] might remain intact for you.(E) 6 But from those who were reputed to be important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those of repute made me add nothing.(F) 7 [g]On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter to the circumcised,(G) 8 for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised worked also in me for the Gentiles, 9 and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas and John,[h] who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.(H) 10 Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,[i] which is the very thing I was eager to do.(I)
Peter’s Inconsistency at Antioch.[j] 11 (J)And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.[k] 12 For, until some people came from James,[l] he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised.(K) 13 And the rest of the Jews[m] [also] acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.(L) 14 But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all,(M) “If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”[n]
Faith and Works.[o] 15 We, who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, 16 (N)[yet] who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.[p] 17 But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin?[q] Of course not! 18 But if I am building up again those things that I tore down, then I show myself to be a transgressor.[r] 19 For through the law I died to the law,[s] that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ;(O) 20 yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.(P) 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.(Q)
Chapter 29
Egypt the Crocodile. 1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month,[a] the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, turn your face toward Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.[b](A) 3 Say to him: Thus says the Lord God:
Pay attention! I am against you,
Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
Great dragon[c] crouching
in the midst of the Nile,
Who says, “The Nile belongs to me;
I made it myself!”(B)
4 [d]I will put hooks in your jaws
and make all the fish of your Nile
Cling to your scales;
I will drag you up from your Nile,
With all the fish of your Nile
clinging to your scales.(C)
5 I will hurl you into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your Nile.
You will fall into an open field,
you will not be picked up or gathered together.
To the beasts of the earth
and the birds of the sky
I give you as food.(D)
6 (E)Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
will know that I am the Lord.
Because you were a staff of reeds[e]
for the house of Israel:
7 When they took hold of you, you would splinter,
throwing shoulders out of joint.
When they leaned on you, you would break,
pitching them down headlong.
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Look! I am bringing the sword against you
to cut off from you people and animals.
9 The land of Egypt shall become a desolate waste;
then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile belongs to me;
I made it!”
10 Beware! I am against you
and against your Nile.
I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins,
into a dry, desolate waste,
From Migdol to Syene,[f]
up to the border of Ethiopia.(F)
11 No foot shall pass through it,
no human being or beast cross it;
it will remain uninhabited for forty years.
12 I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate
among desolate lands;
Its cities, the most deserted
among deserted cities for forty years;
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations
and disperse them throughout other lands.(G)
13 But thus says the Lord God:
At the end of forty years
I will gather the Egyptians
from among the peoples
where they are scattered;
14 I will restore Egypt’s fortunes,
bringing them back to the land of Pathros,[g]
the land of their origin.
But there it will be a lowly kingdom,
15 lower than any other kingdom,
no longer able to set itself above the nations.
I will make them few in number,
so they cannot rule other nations.
16 No longer shall they be security
for the house of Israel,
But a reminder of its iniquity
in turning away to follow them.
Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.(H)
Wages for Nebuchadnezzar. 17 In the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month,[h] the word of the Lord came to me: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has made his army wage a hard campaign against Tyre;[i] their heads grew bald, their shoulders rubbed raw, yet neither he nor his army received compensation from Tyre for all the effort they expended against it.(I) 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God:(J) See! I am giving to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the land of Egypt! He will carry off its wealth, plundering and pillaging whatever he can find to provide pay for his army. 20 As payment for his toil I give him the land of Egypt—oracle of the Lord God.
21 On that day I will make a horn[j] sprout for the house of Israel, and I will let you again open your mouth in their midst; then they shall know that I am the Lord.(K)
Psalm 78[a]
A New Beginning in Zion and David
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable,[b]
unfold the puzzling events of the past.(A)
3 What we have heard and know;
things our ancestors have recounted to us.(B)
4 We do not keep them from our children;
we recount them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and his strength,
the wonders that he performed.(C)
5 God made a decree in Jacob,
established a law in Israel:(D)
Which he commanded our ancestors,
they were to teach their children;
6 That the next generation might come to know,
children yet to be born.(E)
In turn they were to recount them to their children,
7 that they too might put their confidence in God,
And not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments.
8 They were not to be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and defiant generation,(F)
A generation whose heart was not constant,(G)
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The ranks of Ephraimite archers,[c]
retreated on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant;
they refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his deeds,
the wonders that he had shown them.
II
A
12 In the sight of their ancestors God did wonders,
in the land of Egypt, the plain of Zoan.[d](H)
13 He split the sea and led them across,(I)
making the waters stand like walls.(J)
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
all night with the light of fire.(K)
15 He split rocks in the desert,
gave water to drink, abundant as the deeps of the sea.(L)
16 He made streams flow from crags,
caused rivers of water to flow down.
B
17 But they went on sinning against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.(M)
18 They tested God in their hearts,
demanding the food they craved.(N)
19 They spoke against God, and said,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?(O)
20 True, when he struck the rock,
water gushed forth,
the wadies flooded.
But can he also give bread,
or provide meat to his people?”
C
21 The Lord heard and grew angry;(P)
fire blazed up against Jacob;
anger flared up against Israel.
22 For they did not believe in God,
did not trust in his saving power.
23 [e]So he commanded the clouds above;
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 God rained manna upon them for food;
grain from heaven he gave them.(Q)
25 Man ate the bread of the angels;[f]
food he sent in abundance.
26 He stirred up the east wind in the skies;
by his might God brought on the south wind.
27 He rained meat upon them like dust,
winged fowl like the sands of the sea,
28 They fell down in the midst of their camp,
all round their dwellings.
29 They ate and were well filled;
he gave them what they had craved.
30 But while they still wanted more,
and the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared up against them,
and he made a slaughter of their strongest,
laying low the youth of Israel.(R)
32 In spite of all this they went on sinning,
they did not believe in his wonders.
D
33 God ended their days abruptly,
their years in sudden death.
34 When he slew them, they began to seek him;
they again looked for God.(S)
35 They remembered[g] that God was their rock,
God Most High, their redeemer.
36 But they deceived him with their mouths,
lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not constant toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.(T)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.