M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Penalties for Violations of Holiness

20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Say further to the Israelites:

“Any of the Israelites or of the aliens who reside in Israel who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death.^{(A) 3} I myself will set my face against them and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name.^{(B) 4} And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death,^{(C) 5} I myself will set my face against them and against their family and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.

⁶ “If any turn to mediums or spiritualists, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them and will cut them off from the people.^{(D) 7} Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.^{(E) 8} Keep my statutes and observe them: I am the Lord; I sanctify you.^{(F) 9} All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their bloodguilt is upon them.^(G)

¹⁰ “If a man commits adultery with the wife of^[a] his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.^{(H) 11} The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.^{(I) 12} If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed perversion; their bloodguilt is upon them.^{(J) 13} If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.^{(K) 14} If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is depravity; they shall be burned to death, both he and they, that there may be no depravity among you.^{(L) 15} If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he shall be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.^{(M) 16} If a woman approaches any animal and has sexual relations with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.

¹⁷ “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall be subject to punishment.^{(N) 18} If a man lies with a woman during her period and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has laid bare her flow of blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people.^{(O) 19} You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to lay bare one’s own flesh; they shall be subject to punishment.^{(P) 20} If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall be subject to punishment; they shall die childless.^{(Q) 21} If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.^(R)

²² “You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out.^{(S) 23} You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.^{(T) 24} But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples.’^{(U) 25} You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.^{(V) 26} You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.^(W)

²⁷ “A man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritualist shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.”^(X)

Psalm 25

Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance

Of David.

Everything Has Its Time

3 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:^(A)

The God-Given Task

⁹ What gain have the workers from their toil?^{(G) 10} I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.^{(H) 11} He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.^{(I) 12} I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³ moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. ¹⁴ I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it; God has done this so that all should stand in awe before him.^{(J) 15} That which is already has been, that which is to be already is, and God seeks out what has gone by.^[a](K)

Judgment and the Future Belong to God

¹⁶ Moreover, I saw under the sun that, in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. ¹⁷ I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter and for every work.”^{(L) 18} I said to myself with regard to humans that God is testing^[b] them to show that they are but animals.^{(M) 19} For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.^{(N) 20} All go to one place, all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.^{(O) 21} Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?^{(P) 22} So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?^(Q)

Duties toward Believers

5 Do not speak harshly to an older man,^[a] but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers,^{(A) 2} to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters—with absolute purity.

³ Honor widows who are really widows. ⁴ If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents, for this is pleasing in God’s sight.^{(B) 5} The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,^{(C) 6} but the widow^[b] who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.^{(D) 7} Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach.^{(E) 8} And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.^(F)

⁹ Let a widow be put on the list if she is not less than sixty years old and has been married only once;^{[c] 10} she must be well attested for her good works, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.^{(G) 11} But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry, ¹² and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house, and they are not merely idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say.^{(H) 14} So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us.^{(I) 15} For some have already turned away to follow Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing woman^[d] has relatives who are widows, let her assist them; let the church not be burdened, so that it can assist those who are real widows.

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,^[e] especially those who labor in preaching and teaching,^{(J) 18} for the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” and “The laborer deserves to be paid.”^{(K) 19} Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear.^{(L) 21} In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality.^{(M) 22} Do not ordain^[f] anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.^(N)

²³ No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴ The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. ²⁵ So also good works are conspicuous, and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.