M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
12 Here are the laws and rulings you are to observe and obey in the land Adonai, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess as long as you live on earth. 2 You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree. 3 Break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, burn up their sacred poles completely and cut down the carved images of their gods. Exterminate their name from that place.
4 “But you are not to treat Adonai your God this way. 5 Rather, you are to come to the place where Adonai your God will put his name. He will choose it from all your tribes; and you will seek out that place, which is where he will live, and go there. 6 You will bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tenths [that you set aside for Adonai], the offerings that you give, the offerings you have vowed, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep. 7 There you will eat in the presence of Adonai your God; and you will rejoice over everything you set out to do, you and your households, in which Adonai your God has blessed you. 8 You will not do things the way we do them here today, where everyone does whatever in his own opinion seems right; 9 because you haven’t yet arrived at the rest and inheritance which Adonai your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross the Yarden and live in the land Adonai your God is having you inherit, and he gives you rest from all your surrounding enemies, so that you are living in safety; (ii) 11 then you will bring all that I am ordering you to the place Adonai your God chooses to have his name live — your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tenths, the offering from your hand, and all your best possessions that you dedicate to Adonai; 12 and you will rejoice in the presence of Adonai your God — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves and the Levi staying with you, inasmuch as he has no share or inheritance with you.
13 “Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings just anywhere you see, 14 but do it in the place Adonai will choose in one of your tribal territories; there is where you are to offer your burnt offerings and do everything I order you to do. 15 However, you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live and whenever you want, in keeping with the degree to which Adonai your God has blessed you. The unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer. 16 But don’t eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.
17 “You are not to eat on your own property the tenth of your grain, new wine or olive oil [that you set aside for Adonai], or the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, or any offering you have vowed, or your voluntary offering, or the offering from your hand. 18 No, you are to eat these in the presence of Adonai your God in the place Adonai your God will choose — you and your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levi who is your guest; and you are to rejoice before Adonai your God in everything you undertake to do. 19 As long as you are living on your property, take care not to abandon the Levi.
20 “When Adonai your God expands your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat,’ simply because you want to eat meat, then you may eat meat, as much as you want. 21 If the place which Adonai your God chooses to place his name is too far away from you; then you are to slaughter animals from your cattle or sheep, which Adonai has given you; and eat on your own property, as much as you want. 22 Eat it as you would gazelle or deer; the unclean and clean alike may eat it. 23 Just take care not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you are not to eat the life with the meat. 24 Don’t eat it, but pour it out on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat it, so that things will go well with you and with your children after you, as you do what Adonai sees as right. 26 Only the things set aside for God which you have, and the vows you have vowed to make, you must take and go to the place which Adonai will choose. 27 There you will offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of Adonai your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out on the altar of Adonai your God, and you will eat the meat. 28 Obey and pay attention to everything I am ordering you to do, so that things will go well with you and with your descendants after you forever, as you do what Adonai sees as good and right.
(iii) 29 “When Adonai your God has cut off ahead of you the nations you are entering in order to dispossess, and when you have dispossessed them and are living in their land; 30 be careful, after they have been destroyed ahead of you, not to be trapped into following them; so that you inquire after their gods and ask, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I want to do the same.’ 31 You must not do this to Adonai your God! For they have done to their gods all the abominations that Adonai hates! They even burn up their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods!
97 Adonai is king, let the earth rejoice,
let the many coasts and islands be glad.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
setting ablaze his foes on every side.
4 His flashes of lightning light up the world;
the earth sees it and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Adonai,
at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
7 All who worship images will be put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols.
Bow down to him, all you gods!
8 Tziyon hears and is glad, Adonai;
the daughters of Y’hudah rejoice at your rulings.
9 For you, Adonai, most high over all the earth,
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love Adonai, hate evil!
He keeps his faithful servants safe.
He rescues them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in Adonai, you righteous;
and give thanks on recalling his holiness.
98 (0) A psalm:
(1) Sing a new song to Adonai,
because he has done wonders.
His right hand, his holy arm
have won him victory.
2 Adonai has made known his victory;
revealed his vindication in full view of the nations,
3 remembered his grace and faithfulness
to the house of Isra’el.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4 Shout for joy to Adonai, all the earth!
Break forth, sing for joy, sing praises!
5 Sing praises to Adonai with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious music!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the shofar,
shout for joy before the king, Adonai!
7 Let the sea roar, and everything in it;
the world, and those living in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands;
let the mountains sing together for joy
9 before Adonai, for he has come to judge the earth;
he will judge the world rightly and the peoples fairly.
40 “Comfort and keep comforting my people,” says your God.
2 “Tell Yerushalayim to take heart; proclaim to her
that she has completed her time of service,
that her guilt has been paid off,
that she has received at the hand of Adonai
double for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out:
“Clear a road through the desert for Adonai!
Level a highway in the ‘Aravah for our God!
4 Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill lowered,
the bumpy places made level
and the crags become a plain.
5 Then the glory of Adonai will be revealed;
all humankind together will see it,
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Proclaim!”
And I answer, “What should I proclaim?”
“All humanity is merely grass,
all its kindness like wildflowers:
7 the grass dries up, the flower fades,
when a wind from Adonai blows on it.
Surely the people are grass!
8 The grass dries up, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Tziyon,
get yourself up on a high mountain;
you who bring good news to Yerushalayim,
cry out at the top of your voice!
Don’t be afraid to shout out loud!
Say to the cities of Y’hudah,
“Here is your God!
10 Here comes Adonai Elohim with power,
and his arm will rule for him.
Look! His reward is with him,
and his recompense is before him.
11 He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering his lambs with his arm,
carrying them against his chest,
gently leading the mother sheep.”
12 Who has counted the handfuls of water in the sea,
measured off the sky with a ruler,
gauged how much dust there is on the earth,
weighed the mountains on scales, or the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured the Spirit of Adonai?
Who has been his counselor, instructing him?
14 Whom did he consult, to gain understanding?
Who taught him how to judge,
taught him what he needed to know,
showed him how to discern?
15 The nations are like a drop in a bucket,
they count like a grain of dust on the scales.
The islands weigh as little as specks of dust.
16 The L’vanon would not suffice for fuel
or its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are like nothing.
He regards them as less than nothing.
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
By what standard will you evaluate him?
19 An image made by a craftsman,
which a goldsmith overlays with gold,
for which he then casts silver chains?
20 A man too poor to afford an offering
chooses a piece of wood that won’t rot,
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to prepare an image that won’t fall over.
21 Don’t you know? Don’t you hear?
Haven’t you been told from the start?
Don’t you understand how the earth is set up?
22 He who sits above the circle of the earth —
for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers —
stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing,
the rulers of the earth to emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem taken root in the ground,
when he blows on them, they dry up,
and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.
25 “With whom, then, will you compare me?
With whom am I equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Turn your eyes to the heavens!
See who created these?
He brings out the army of them in sequence,
summoning each by name.
Through his great might and his massive strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Ya‘akov;
why do you say, Isra’el,
“My way is hidden from Adonai,
my rights are ignored by my God”?
28 Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard
that the everlasting God, Adonai,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not grow tired or weary?
His understanding cannot be fathomed.
29 He invigorates the exhausted,
he gives strength to the powerless.
30 Young men may grow tired and weary,
even the fittest may stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength,
they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings;
when they are running they won’t grow weary,
when they are walking they won’t get tired.
10 Next I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, his legs like columns of fire; 2 and he had a little scroll lying open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and shouted in a voice as loud as the roar of a lion; and when he shouted, seven thunderclaps sounded with voices that spoke. 4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say,
“Seal up the things the seven thunders said,
do not write them down!”
5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand toward heaven 6 and swore by the One who lives forever and ever,[a] who created heaven and what is in it, earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it:[b] “There will be no more delay; 7 on the contrary, in the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar, the hidden plan of God will be brought to completion, the Good News as he proclaimed it to his servants the prophets.”
8 Next the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll lying open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land!” 9 So I went over to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it; and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; but after I had swallowed it, my stomach turned bitter. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.