M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules of Warfare
20 “When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots, an army larger than your own, do not fear them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(A) 2 Before you engage in battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the troops 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near to do battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart or be afraid or panic or be in dread of them,(B) 4 for it is the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you victory.’(C) 5 Then the officers shall address the troops, saying, ‘Has anyone built a new house but not dedicated it? He should go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another dedicate it. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard but not yet enjoyed its fruit? He should go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another be first to enjoy its fruit.(D) 7 Has anyone become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? He should go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another marry her.’(E) 8 The officers shall continue to address the troops, saying, ‘Is anyone afraid or disheartened? He should go back to his house, or he might cause the heart of his comrades to melt like his own.’(F) 9 When the officers have finished addressing the troops, then the commanders shall take charge of them.
10 “When you draw near to a town to fight against it, offer it terms of peace.(G) 11 If it accepts your terms of peace and surrenders to you, then all the people in it shall serve you at forced labor. 12 But if it does not accept your terms of peace and makes war against you, then you shall besiege it, 13 and when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword. 14 You may, however, take as your plunder the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you.(H) 15 Thus you shall treat all the towns that are very far from you, which are not towns of these nations here. 16 But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive.(I) 17 Indeed, you shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods and you thus sin against the Lord your God.(J)
19 “If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you? 20 You may destroy only the trees that you know do not produce food; you may cut them down for use in building siegeworks against the town that makes war with you, until it falls.
Book V
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.(A)
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble(B)
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.[a](C)
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;(D)
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;(E)
7 he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.(F)
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.(G)
9 For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.(H)
10 Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and in irons,(I)
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.(J)
12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
they fell down, with no one to help.(K)
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;(L)
14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds apart.(M)
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.(N)
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.(O)
17 Some were sick[b] through their sinful ways
and because of their iniquities endured affliction;(P)
18 they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.(Q)
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
20 he sent out his word and healed them
and delivered them from destruction.(R)
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
22 And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.(S)
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.(T)
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity;(U)
27 they reeled and staggered like drunkards
and were at their wits’ end.(V)
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
29 he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.(W)
30 Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.(X)
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.(Y)
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,(Z)
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.(AA)
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.(AB)
36 And there he lets the hungry live,
and they establish a town to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.(AC)
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their cattle decrease.(AD)
39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,(AE)
40 he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes,(AF)
41 but he raises up the needy out of distress
and makes their families like flocks.(AG)
42 The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness stops its mouth.(AH)
43 Let those who are wise pay attention to these things
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.(AI)
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 Come down and sit in the dust,
virgin daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.(A)
2 Take the millstones and grind meal;
remove your veil;
strip off your robe; uncover your legs;
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.[a](B)
4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.(C)
5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.(D)
6 I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke
exceedingly heavy.(E)
7 You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.(F)
8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”—(G)
9 both these things shall come upon you
in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.(H)
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge
led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”(I)
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you cannot charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
which you will not be able to ward off,
and ruin shall come on you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.(J)
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.(K)
13 You are wearied with your many consultations;
let those who study[b] the heavens
stand up and save you,
those who gaze at the stars
and at each new moon predict
what[c] shall befall you.(L)
14 See, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!(M)
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they all wander about in their own paths;
there is no one to save you.(N)
The Great Whore and the Beast
17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore[a] who is seated on many waters,(A) 2 with whom the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality[b] and with the wine of whose prostitution the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.”(B) 3 So he carried me away in the spirit[c] into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.(C) 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her prostitution,(D) 5 and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother[d] of whores[e] and of earth’s abominations.”(E) 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.(F) 7 But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.(G)
9 “This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings,(H) 10 of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.(I) 13 These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; 14 they will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”(J)
15 And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore[f] is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.(K) 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore;[g] they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.(L) 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.(M) 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”(N)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.