M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Penalties for Defiling the Land

20 Then the Lord told Moses ² to say this to the Israelites:

Any Israelite or any of the aliens who reside in Israel who give any of their children^[a] to Molek must certainly be put to death. The people of the land shall stone that person to death. ³ I myself will set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people, because when he gave some of his children to Molek, he made my sanctuary unclean and defiled my holy name. ⁴ Furthermore, if the people of the land deliberately shut their eyes when that man gives any of his children to Molek, and they do not put him to death, ⁵ I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan. I will cut off from among their people both that man and all those who join with him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

⁶ If any person turns to mediums or to spiritists^[b] and prostitutes himself to them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people.

⁷ You shall set yourselves apart, and you shall be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall keep my regulations, and you shall put them into practice. I am the Lord, who has set you apart.

⁹ Indeed, if anybody curses his father and his mother, he must certainly be put to death. Since he has cursed his father and his mother, his blood is upon him.

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with the wife of another man, if he commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor,^[c] both the adulterer and the adulteress must certainly be put to death.

¹¹ If a man lies down with his father’s wife, he has uncovered nakedness that is reserved for his father. Both of them certainly must be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹² If a man lies down with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed an unnatural perversion. Their blood is upon them.

¹³ If a man lies down with a male as one lies down with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They must certainly be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹⁴ If a man takes^[d] a woman and her mother, it is a depraved act. Both he and they shall be burned in fire, so that there may be no depravity among you.

¹⁵ If a man gives his emission to an animal, he must certainly be put to death, and you must kill the animal.

¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal to let it mate with her, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They must certainly be put to death. Their blood is on them.

¹⁷ If a man takes^[e] his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, and he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful act. They will be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He will bear his guilt.

¹⁸ If a man lies down with a woman during her period and uncovers her nakedness, he uncovers her flow, and she uncovers her flow of blood. Both of them will be cut off from the midst of their people.

¹⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for that would be uncovering one’s own flesh. They will bear their guilt.

²⁰ If a man lies down with the wife of his father’s brother, he uncovers the nakedness that is reserved for his father’s brother. They shall bear their sin. They will die childless.

²¹ If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is a polluted act. He has uncovered nakedness that is reserved for his brother. They will remain childless.

²² You shall keep all my regulations and all my ordinances and put them into practice, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. ²³ You shall not walk according to the religious practices of the nation which I am casting out before you, for I was disgusted with them because they did all these things, ²⁴ so I said to you, “You will take possession of their land. I myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I, the Lord, am your God, who has distinguished you from the other peoples. ²⁵ You shall therefore distinguish the clean animal from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable with an animal or a bird or anything that crawls on the ground that I have distinguished by declaring what is unclean for you. ²⁶ You will be holy to me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have distinguished you from the other peoples so that you belong to me.”

²⁷ A man or a woman who is a medium or deals with the spirits of the dead must certainly be put to death. They must be stoned to death. Their blood is on them.

Psalm 25

Teach Me Your Ways

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By David.

A Prayer for Protection

A Prayer for Forgiveness

A Prayer for a Godly Life

A Second Prayer for Protection

Everything in Its Time

⁹ What does the worker gain from his hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the task which God has given the children of Adam to keep them busy. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Yes, he has also put eternity in their hearts, yet it is not possible for man to understand the work that God has done from beginning to end.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy good things^[a] while they live. ¹³ Also, when anyone eats, drinks, and experiences the good things that his hard work leads to—this is God’s gift.

¹⁴ I know that everything God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts so that people will fear him. ¹⁵ Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been. God makes whatever has already passed come again.^[b]

There Is No Justice

¹⁶ I saw something else under the sun: In the place where justice should be, there was wickedness, and in the place for righteousness, there was wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked. Yes, there will be a time for every case to be settled before God.”^[c]

¹⁸ So I said in my heart, “This is done so that God can test the children of Adam, so that they can see what animals they are if left to themselves.”^{[d] 19} For the outcome^[e] for the children of Adam and the outcome for animals is the same. One dies just like the other. All have the same breath. Mankind has no advantage over animals, because everything is vapor. ²⁰ All go to the same place. All were from the dust, and to the dust all return. ²¹ Who knows whether the spirit^[f] of the man goes upward, and the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?

²² So I saw that there is nothing better for man than to be happy in his activities, since that is his reward.^[g] For who will show him what there will be after him?

Attitude Toward Various Age Groups

5 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but encourage him as a father, younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

Taking Care of Widows

³ Honor widows who are truly widows. ⁴ But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to be devoted to their own household and repay their parents,^[a] for this is pleasing in the sight of God. ⁵ Now the widow who is without relatives has put her hope in God and continues in her petitions and prayers night and day. ⁶ But the widow who lives only for her own pleasure is dead, even while she lives. ⁷ Insist on these things also, in order that they may be above criticism. ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own family, and especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ Let a widow be put on the list if she is over sixty years old, has been a wife of one husband, ¹⁰ and has a good reputation for doing good: if she brought up children, if she showed hospitality to strangers, if she washed the feet of the saints, if she provided help for those in distress, and if she dedicated herself to every good work. ¹¹ But do not put younger widows on the list, for when they have strong sensual desires that pull them away from Christ, they want to marry, ¹² and so they bring judgment on themselves because they set aside their former pledge.^{[b] 13} At the same time, they also learn to be lazy as they go about from house to house. They not only learn to be lazy, but also to be gossips and busybodies, saying things that they should not say. ¹⁴ Therefore I want younger widows^[c] to marry, to have children, to keep house, and to give no opportunity for the enemy to slander them. ¹⁵ In fact, some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶ If any believing woman^[d] has widows in her family, let her keep helping them rather than letting them become a burden to the church, so that the church may help those who are truly widows.

Dealing With Elders

¹⁷ The elders who lead well should be considered worthy of double honor, especially the ones who work hard in the word and doctrine.^{[e] 18} For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,”^[f] and “The worker is worthy of his pay.”^{[g] 19} Do not accept an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ In the presence of everyone, rebuke the ones who persist in sin, so that the rest may be afraid.

²¹ I solemnly charge you, in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, that you follow these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing out of partiality. ²² Do not lay hands on anyone hastily and do not take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³ Stop drinking just water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent sicknesses.

²⁴ The sins of some people are obvious, going on ahead of them to judgment, but the sins of others follow them there. ²⁵ In the same way, good works are also obvious, and the ones that are not obvious cannot stay hidden.