M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Second Pieces of Stone

10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two pieces of stone like the other ones. Then come up to Me on the mountain, and make a box of wood. ² I will write on the pieces of stone the words that were on the other pieces of stone which you broke. And you will put them in the box.’ ³ So I made a box of acacia wood and cut out two pieces of stone like the other ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two stone pieces in my hand. ⁴ The Lord wrote the Ten Laws the same as before on the pieces of stone which He had spoken to you on the mountain from the fire on the day of the meeting. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the stone pieces in the box I had made. There they are, as the Lord told me.”

⁶ (The people of Israel traveled from the wells of the sons of Jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried and his son Eleazar took his place as religious leader. ⁷ From there they traveled to Gudgodah. And from Gudgodah they went to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water. ⁸ At that time the Lord set apart the family of Levi to carry the special box of the Law of the Lord, and to stand before the Lord to work for Him and honor His name to this day. ⁹ So Levi does not have a share of what is given to his brothers. The Lord is his share, just as the Lord your God promised him.)

¹⁰ “Once more I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time. And the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord did not destroy you. ¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up. Travel in front of the people, so they may go in and take the land which I promised to give their fathers.’

What God Wants

¹² “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? He wants you to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him. He wants you to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. ¹³ He wants you to keep all the Laws of the Lord which I am telling you today for your good. ¹⁴ See, heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it belong to the Lord your God. ¹⁵ The Lord had joy in loving your fathers more than other nations, and you are still His chosen people to this day. ¹⁶ So then, from now on, obey the Lord. Do not be strong-willed any more. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. He is the great and powerful God and is to be honored with fear. He does not show favor, and cannot be bought with money. ¹⁸ He does what is right and fair for the child without parents and the woman whose husband has died. He shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ So show your love for the stranger. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ Fear the Lord your God. Work for Him, hold on to Him, and swear by His name. ²¹ He is your praise and He is your God. You have seen the great and powerful things He has done for you. ²² Your fathers went to Egypt, seventy people in all. And now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars of heaven.

God Judges

94 O Lord, the God Who punishes, God Who punishes, let Your light shine! ² Rise up, You Judge of the earth. Pay what is owed to the proud. ³ How long will the sinful, O Lord, how long will the sinful be full of joy? ⁴ They pour out proud words. All those who do wrong, talk about themselves as if they are great people. ⁵ They crush Your people, O Lord. They bring trouble upon Your chosen nation. ⁶ They kill the woman whose husband has died and the stranger. They kill the children who have no parents. ⁷ And they say, “The Lord does not see. The God of Jacob does not care.”

⁸ Listen, you foolish ones among the people. You fools, when will you understand? ⁹ He Who made the ear, does He not hear? He Who made the eye, does He not see? ¹⁰ He Who punishes nations so they might give up sin, will He not speak strong words to them? Is He not the One Who teaches man all he knows? ¹¹ The Lord knows the thoughts of man. He knows that they are empty.

¹² Happy is the man who is punished until he gives up sin, O Lord, and whom You teach from Your Law. ¹³ You give him rest from days of trouble, until a hole is dug for the sinful. ¹⁴ For the Lord will not turn away from His people. He will not leave His chosen nation. ¹⁵ For what is decided will be right and good. And all those whose hearts are right will follow it. ¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the sinful? Who will take a stand for me against those who do wrong?

¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have been among the dead. ¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is going out from under me,” Your loving-kindness held me up, O Lord. ¹⁹ When my worry is great within me, Your comfort brings joy to my soul. ²⁰ Can a sinful throne that brings trouble by its laws be a friend to You? ²¹ They join together against the life of those who are right and good. They send those who are not guilty to their death. ²² But the Lord has been my strong place, my God, and the rock where I am safe. ²³ He has brought back their own sin upon them and will destroy them for their wrong-doing. The Lord our God will destroy them.

Hezekiah Will Live Fifteen More Years

38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was near death. Isaiah the man of God, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “The Lord says, ‘Make those of your house ready, for you will die and not live.’” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, “O Lord, I ask you from my heart to remember now how I have walked with You in truth and with a whole heart. I have done what is good in Your eyes.” And Hezekiah cried with a bitter cry. ⁴ Then the Word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘The Lord, the God of your father David, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. See, I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶ And I will take you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will fight for this city.”’” ⁷ “This is the special thing for you to see from the Lord, that the Lord will do what He has said: ⁸ See the shadow on the steps, which has gone down with the sun on the steps of Ahaz. I will make it go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back the ten steps it had gone down.

⁹ This is the writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and became well again: ¹⁰ I said, “Half-way through my life I am to go through the gates of the place of the dead. The rest of my years have been kept from me.” ¹¹ I said, “I will not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living. I will not look upon man any more among the people of the world. ¹² My house is pulled up like a shepherd’s tent and taken from me. I have rolled up my life like a cloth-maker. He cuts me off from the cloth He is making. From day to night You make an end of me. ¹³ I waited for help until morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones. From day to night You make an end of me. ¹⁴ I make noise like the birds. I cry like a dove. My eyes are tired from looking up. O Lord, I am having a hard time. Keep me safe.

¹⁵ “But what can I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. I will walk with care all my years because my soul is bitter. ¹⁶ O Lord, by these things men live. And in all these is the life of my spirit. O heal me, and let me live! ¹⁷ See, it was for my own well-being that I was bitter. But You have kept my soul from the grave that destroys. You have put all my sins behind Your back. ¹⁸ The place of the dead cannot thank You. Death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the grave cannot hope that You will be faithful. ¹⁹ It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today. A father tells his sons about how faithful You are. ²⁰ The Lord will save me. And we will sing my songs with harps all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.”

²¹ Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and put it on the sore, that he may get well.” ²² Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the special thing to see, that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”

The Seventh Lock—No Sound in Heaven

8 When the Lamb broke the seventh lock, there was not a sound in heaven for about one-half hour.

² Then I saw the seven angels standing before God. They were given seven horns.

³ Another angel came and stood at the altar. He held a cup made of gold full of special perfume. He was given much perfume so he could mix it in with the prayers of those who belonged to God. Their prayers were put on the altar made of gold before the throne. ⁴ Smoke from burning the special perfume and the prayers of those who belong to God went up before God out of the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the cup of gold. He filled it with fire from the altar and threw it down on the earth. There was thunder and noise and lightning and the earth shook.

⁶ The seven angels that had the seven horns got ready to blow them.

The First Horn—Hail and Fire

⁷ So the first angel blew his horn. Hail and fire mixed with blood came down on the earth. One-third part of the earth was burned up. One-third part of the trees were burned up. All the green grass was burned up.

The Second Horn—the Burning Mountain

⁸ The second angel blew his horn. Something like a large mountain was burning with fire. It was thrown into the sea. One-third part of the sea turned into blood. ⁹ One-third part of all sea life died. One-third part of all the ships were destroyed.

The Third Horn—the Star of Poison

¹⁰ The third angel blew his horn. A large star fell from heaven. It was burning with a fire that kept burning like a bright light. It fell on one-third part of the rivers and on the places where water comes out of the earth. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood. One-third part of the water became poison. Many men died from drinking the water because it had become poison.

The Fourth Horn—Not As Much Light

¹² The fourth angel blew his horn. One-third part of the sun and one-third part of the moon and one-third part of the stars were hurt. One-third part of them was made dark so that one-third part of the day and night had no light.

¹³ Then I looked and saw a very large bird flying in the sky. It said with a loud voice, “It is bad! It is bad! It is bad for those who live on the earth when the sound comes from the horns that the other three angels will blow!”