M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 17
1 You shall not sacrifice an ox or a sheep that has any blemish or any defect[a] whatsoever to the Lord, your God, for that would be an abomination to the Lord, your God. 2 If any man or woman is discovered in any of the towns that the Lord, your God, has given you who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord, your God, transgressing his covenant, 3 going over and serving and worshiping other gods, whether it be the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, something that I have forbidden, 4 and you are told about it, and you hear of it, then you shall carefully check into it. If it is true, then an abomination has been committed in Israel; 5 you are to bring that man or woman who has done this evil thing to the town gates, and you shall stone that man or woman to death.
6 A person can be put to death upon the testimony of two or three witnesses; a person is not to be put to death upon the testimony of a single witness. 7 The witnesses will be the first to raise their hand against him to put him to death, then all of the people will raise their hands against him, in order to purge this evil from your midst.
Judges. 8 If cases come before you that are too difficult to judge, whether concerning bloodshed, or lawsuits, or assault, then take them to the place that the Lord, your God, will choose. 9 Go to the priests, the Levites, and the judge whose term it is, and consult with them. They will give you a verdict. 10 You must proceed according to the verdict that they will have given you at the place that the Lord will choose. Do everything that they tell you to do. 11 Act according to the law that they teach you and the judgment that they render. Do not turn away from the sentence that they pronounce, either to the right or the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying either the priest who stands before the Lord, your God, to minister there, or the judge, is to die. In this way you will purge the evil from Israel.[b] 13 All the people will hear of it and be filled with fear; they will not act presumptuously anymore.
14 A Suitable King. When you enter the land that the Lord, your God, has given you and you take possession of it and dwell there and you say, “I will set a king over me like all the other nations that surround me,” 15 you can indeed have a king whom the Lord, your God, will choose. You will make one of your brethren your king, you are not to choose a foreigner as king who is not one of your brethren. 16 He must not build up a large stable for himself, and he must not send people back to Egypt to procure a large stable, for the Lord has said that you are not to return that way again. 17 He should also not have many wives, lest his heart be turned astray. He must not accumulate large sums of silver or gold. 18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of the law that is entrusted to the priests, the Levites for himself on a scroll. 19 He should read it every day of his life so that he can learn to fear the Lord, his God, and to observe all the words of these laws and statutes, fulfilling them. 20 In this way he will not consider himself to be better than his brethren in his heart, and he will not turn away from the commandments to the right or the left. He and his descendants will thus reign a long time in the kingdom of Israel.
Psalm 104[a]
Praise of God the Creator
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord, my God, you are indeed very great.
You are clothed in majesty and splendor,
2 wrapped in light[b] as in a robe.
You have stretched out the heavens like a tent;
3 you have established your palace[c] upon the waters.
You make the clouds serve as your chariot;
you ride forth on the wings of the wind.
4 You have appointed the winds as your messengers
and flames of fire[d] as your ministers.
5 You established the earth on its foundations
so that it will remain unshaken forever.[e]
6 You covered it with the deep like a cloak;
the waters rose above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke[f] the waters took to flight;
at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.
8 They rose up to the mountains
and flowed down to the valleys,[g]
to the place that you had designated for them.
9 You established a boundary that they were not to cross
so that they would never again cover the earth.
10 [h]You made springs gush forth in the valleys
and flow between the mountains.
11 They supply water to every beast of the field,
and from them the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 On the banks the birds of the air build nests
and sing among the branches.
13 [i]From your dwelling you water the mountains,
enriching the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You provide grass for the cattle,
and the plants for man to cultivate.
You bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart[j] of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen his body.
16 The trees of the Lord have fruit in abundance,
the cedars of Lebanon[k] that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
in the fir trees the stork makes its home.
18 The high mountains are inhabited by the wild goats;
in the rocky crags the badgers[l] find refuge.
19 You created the moon that marks the seasons
and the sun that knows its time for setting.[m]
20 You bring on darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forests go on the prowl.
21 The young lions[n] roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and return to their lairs to rest.
23 People go forth to their work
and to their labor until darkness descends.
24 [o]How countless are your works, O Lord;
by your wisdom you have made them all;
the earth abounds with your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and broad,
filled with numberless species,
living creatures both great and small.
26 There the ships sail forth,
and the Leviathan[p] that you formed to play therein.
27 [q]All of them look to you
to give them their food at the appropriate time.[r]
28 [s]When you provide it for them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you turn away your face,[t]
they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit,[u]
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 [v]May the glory of the Lord abide forever,
and may the Lord rejoice in his works.[w]
32 When he looks at the earth, it quakes;
when he touches the mountains, they smoke.[x]
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;[y]
I will sing praise to my God while I have life.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I find my joy in the Lord.
35 May sinners be banished from the earth,
and may the wicked no longer exist.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.[z]
Alleluia.
Chapter 44
1 Now listen to me, O Jacob, my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you in the womb
and will continue to help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob, my servant,
Jeshurun[a] whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour down rain on the thirsty land
and open up streams on the dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit upon your offspring
and my blessing upon your descendants.
4 They will spring up amid the grass
like willows besides flowing waters.
5 One person will say, “I am the Lord’s,”
while another will call himself a son of Jacob.
And on his hand still another will write “The Lord’s,”
and adopt Israel as a surname.
The One True God and False Gods
6 Thus says the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
Israel’s king and redeemer:
I am the first and I am the last;
there is no god but me.
7 Who is like me? Let him stand up and speak.
Let him declare it and set forth his evidence.
Who in the past has foretold future events?
Let him foretell to us what is yet to occur.
8 Do not fear or be afraid.
Did I not proclaim all this
and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses in this regard.
Is there any god besides me?
There is no other Rock;
I am aware of none.
9 All those who make idols amount to nothing, and the images in which they take such pride profit no one. Their witnesses are blind and ignorant, and therefore they become objects of scorn. 10 Who would waste his time in fashioning a god or casting an image that will serve no purpose? 11 All who believe in their power will be put to shame, as will the craftsmen who fashioned them. Let them all assemble and approach me with terror and with shame.
12 The blacksmith fashions an ax over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm. Then he becomes hungry and his strength fails, and he becomes exhausted because he has not consumed any water.
13 The woodworker measures with a line and marks out an outline with a stylus. He shapes it with a plane and marks it with a compass. Then he carves it into the shape of a man, comely in appearance and dignity, to be placed in a shrine.
14 He also cuts down cedars or chooses a cypress or an oak that he has allowed to grow strong among the other trees of the forest, and a pine tree that he had planted and the rain has nourished. 15 When such trees are suitable to burn, he can use some of them to keep warm or to bake bread, but with others he fashions a god and worships it, shaping it into an idol and bowing down before it.
16 Half of the trees he uses to burn in the fire to roast meat which he eats and is satisfied, while at the same time he warms himself and says, “Ah, how warm I am from the heat of the fire.” 17 With the remainder he fashions a god, an idol before which he bows down and offers worship. He prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
18 Such idols possess neither knowledge nor understanding, for their eyes are shut so that they cannot see, and their minds are incapable of reasoning. 19 Yet such a workman does not have the wisdom or the discernment to reflect, “Half of the wood I have burned in the fire, and I also used its embers to bake bread and to roast meat which I ate. Does it make sense to fashion an abomination with the remainder? Am I right to worship a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself. He will not admit to himself, “What I have in my hand is a fraud.”
21 Remember these things, O Lord,
and you also, O Israel,
for you are my servant.
I fashioned you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will never forget you.
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like a mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.
23 Shout in triumphant joy, O heavens,
for the Lord has done this;
shout aloud, O depths of the earth.
Break forth into song, you mountains,
you forests, with all your trees.
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and displayed his glory in Israel.
24 Thus says the Lord, your redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord who made all things;
by myself I stretched out the heavens
by myself I spread out the earth.
25 I frustrate the omens of false prophets
and make fools of diviners.
I confound wise men
and reveal the foolishness of their thoughts.
26 I confirm the words of my servants
and carry out the plans revealed by my messengers.
I say to Jerusalem, You will be inhabited,
and to the cities of Judah, You will be rebuilt.
I will raise up their ruins.
27 I say to the deep waters, Become dry;
I will dry up your rivers.
28 I say to Cyrus, You will be my shepherd,
and he will carry out my every wish,
so that Jerusalem will be rebuilt
and the foundations of the temple will be laid.
Chapter 14
The Song of the Martyrs.[a] 1 Next in my vision, I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand[b] people who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven like that of a mighty torrent or a loud peal of thunder. It was like the sound of harpists playing their harps.
3 They were singing a new song[c] before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women.[d] They are virgins, and they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed as the firstfruits of mankind for God and for the Lamb. 5 No lie was found on their lips. They are irreproachable.
The Nearness of the Judgment.[e] 6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to all those who live on the earth, to every nation, race, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the time has come for his judgment. Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed him, saying:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
She has made all the nations drink
the wine of the wrath of her immorality.”
9 A third angel followed them, crying out in a loud voice, “Anyone who worships the beast or its image and receives its mark on his forehead or hand 10 will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured undiluted into the cup of his wrath.[f] Such people will be tormented in burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no respite day or night for those who worship the beast or its image or for those who receive the mark of its name.”
12 This demands patient endurance on the part of the saints who keep the commandments of God and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed[g] are those who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will find rest from their labors, for their deeds go with them.”
14 One Like a Son of Man.[h] Now in my vision, I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man,”[i] with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel then came out of the temple and called out in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So the one who was seated on the cloud swept over the earth with his sickle, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he, too, had a sharp sickle. 18 Then from the altar came forth still another angel who was in charge of the fire, and he cried out in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vines of the earth, for her grapes are ripe.”
19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered in its vintage, which he then cast into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress to the height of a horse’s bridle for a distance of two hundred miles.
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