M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
If Someone Is Found Murdered
21 “In the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you might find a dead body in a field, but no one knows who killed that person. 2 Your leaders and judges must come out and measure the distance to the towns around the dead body. 3 When you learn which town is nearest to the dead body, the leaders of that town must take a cow from their herds. It must be a cow that never had a calf and that has never been used for work. 4 The leaders of that town must then bring the cow down to a valley with running water. It must be a valley that has never been plowed or had anything planted in it. Then the leaders must break the cow’s neck there in that valley. 5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, must also go there. (The Lord your God has chosen these priests to serve him and to bless people in the name of the Lord. The priests will decide who is right in every lawsuit and whenever someone is hurt.) 6 All the leaders of the town nearest the dead body must wash their hands over the cow that had its neck broken in the valley. 7 These leaders must say, ‘We did not kill this person, and we did not see it happen. 8 Lord, you saved your people Israel. Now make us pure. Don’t blame us for killing an innocent person.’ In this way these men will not be blamed for killing an innocent person. 9 In this way you will remove that guilt from your group by doing what the Lord said.
Women Captured in War
10 “You might fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God might let you defeat them and take them as captives. 11 You might see a beautiful woman among the captives who you want to be your wife. 12 You must then bring her into your house where she will shave her head and cut her nails. 13 She must change her clothes and take off the clothes she was wearing when she was captured in war. She will stay in your house and be sad about losing her father and her mother for a full month. After that you may go to her to be her husband, and she will be your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her and choose to divorce her, set her free. You cannot sell her. You had sexual relations with her, so you must not treat her like a slave.
The Oldest Son
15 “A man might have two wives. He might love one wife more than the other. Both wives might have children for him, but the firstborn son might be from the wife he does not love. 16 When the man divides his property among his children, he cannot give the rights of the firstborn to the son of his favorite wife. 17 The man must accept the firstborn son from the wife he does not love. The man must give that son a double share of everything he owns because that son is his first child. The right of the firstborn belongs to that son.
Children Who Refuse to Obey
18 “A man might have a son who is stubborn and refuses to obey. This son does not obey his father or mother. They punish the son, but he still refuses to listen to them. 19 His father and mother must then take him to the leaders of the town at the town meeting place. 20 They must say to the leaders of the town: ‘Our son is stubborn and refuses to obey. He does not do anything we tell him to do. He eats and he drinks too much.’ 21 Then the men in the town must kill the son with stones. By doing this you will remove this evil from your group. Everyone in Israel will hear about this and be afraid.
Criminals Killed and Hanged on a Tree
22 “A man might be guilty of a sin that must be punished by death. People might kill him and hang his body on a tree. 23 You must not let that body stay on the tree overnight. You must be sure to bury this man on the same day, because the one who hangs on a tree is cursed by God, and you must not let the land that the Lord your God is giving you become unclean.
A praise song of David.
108 God, I am ready, heart and soul,
to sing songs of praise.
Wake up, my soul!
2 Harps and lyres, wake up,
and let’s wake the dawn!
3 Lord, I will praise you before all people.
I will sing praises about you to every nation.
4 Your faithful love is higher
than the highest clouds in the sky!
5 Rise above the heavens, God.
Let all the world see your glory.
6 Use your great power and help us!
Answer my prayer and save the people you love.
7 God has made this promise in his Temple[a]:
“I will win the war and rejoice in victory!
I will divide this land among my people.
I will give them Shechem.
I will give them Succoth Valley.
8 Gilead and Manasseh will be mine.
Ephraim will be my helmet.
Judah will be my royal scepter.
9 Moab will be the bowl for washing my feet.
Edom will be the slave who carries my sandals.
I will defeat the Philistines and shout in victory!”
10-11 But, God, it seems that you have left us!
You do not go out with our army.
So who will lead me into the strong, protected city?
Who will lead me into battle against Edom?
12 Help us defeat the enemy!
No one on earth can rescue us.
13 Only God can make us strong.
Only God can defeat our enemies!
To the director: A praise song of David.
109 God, I praise you!
Hear my prayer and do something!
2 Wicked people are telling lies about me.
They are saying things that are not true.
3 They are saying hateful things about me.
They are attacking me for no reason.
4 I loved them, but they were against me.
So I said a prayer.
5 I did good things to them,
but they are doing bad things to me.
I loved them,
but they hated me.
6 They said, “Choose someone evil to represent him.
Let the one at his side really be his accuser.
7 Let even his prayer be used as evidence against him,
and let the court find him guilty.
8 Let his life be cut short,
and let someone else take over his work.
9 Let his children become orphans and his wife a widow.
10 Make his children wander around as beggars,
forced from homes that lie in ruins.
11 Let the people he owes take everything he owns.
Let strangers get everything he worked for.
12 Let no one be kind to him.
Let no one show mercy to his children.
13 May his family come to an end.
May his name be unknown to future generations.
14 May the Lord remember the sins of his father,
and may his mother’s sins never be erased.
15 May the Lord remember their sins forever,
and may he cause people to forget his family completely.
16 He never did anything good.
He never loved anyone.
He made life hard for the poor and the helpless.
17 He loved to curse others,
so let those bad things happen to him.
He never blessed others,
so don’t let good things happen to him.
18 Cursing was a daily part of his life,
like the clothes he wears.
Cursing others became a part of him,
like the water he drinks and the oil he puts on his body.
19 So let curses cover him like the robe he wears
and always surround him like a belt.”
20 My enemies said these evil things against me.
But may those curses be the way the Lord punishes them.
21 My Lord God, treat me in a way that brings honor to your name.
Save me because of your faithful love.
22 I am only a poor, helpless man.
I am so sad; my heart is broken.
23 I feel my life is over, fading like a shadow at day’s end.
I feel like a bug that someone brushed away.
24 My knees are weak from fasting.
I have lost weight and become thin.
25 My enemies insult me.
They look at me and shake their heads.
26 Lord my God, help me!
Show your faithful love and save me!
27 Then they will know that you did it.
They will know that it was your power, Lord, that helped me.
28 They curse me, but you can bless me.
They attacked me, so defeat them.
Then I, your servant, will be happy.
29 Humiliate my enemies!
Let them wear their shame like a coat.
30 I give thanks to the Lord.
I praise him in front of everyone.
31 He stands by the helpless
and saves them from those who try to put them to death.
God Rules His World
48 “Family of Jacob, listen to me!
You people call yourself ‘Israel,’
but you are from Judah’s family.
When you take an oath, I, the Lord, the God of Israel,
am the one whose name you use,
but you are not honest and sincere.
2 “Yes, you call yourselves citizens of the holy city,[a]
those who depend on the God of Israel.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
3 “Long ago I told you what would happen.
I told you about these things.
And suddenly I made them happen.
4 I did that because I knew you were stubborn.
You were like iron that will not bend,
with heads as hard as bronze.
5 So long ago I told you what would happen.
I told you about those things long before they happened.
I did this so that you could not say,
‘The gods we made did this.
Our idols, our statues, made this happen.’”
God Punishes Israel to Make Them Pure
6 “You heard what I said would happen.
And you can see it has all been done.
Shouldn’t you tell this to others?
Now I will tell you about new things,
secrets you have not known before.
7 This is something that is happening now, not long ago.
You have not heard about it before today.
So you cannot say, ‘We already knew that.’
8 But even in the past you didn’t listen.
You didn’t learn anything.
You never listen to what I say.
I have always known that you would turn against me.
You have rebelled against me from the time you were born.
9 “But I will be patient.
I will do this for myself.
People will praise me for not becoming angry and destroying you.
You will praise me for waiting.
10 “Look, I will make you pure,
but not in the way you make silver pure.
I will make you pure by giving you troubles.
11 I will do this for myself—for me!
I will not let you treat me as if I am not important.
I will not let some false god take my glory and praise.
12 “Jacob, listen to me!
Israel, I called you to be my people.
So listen to me!
I am the Beginning,
and I am the End.
13 I made the earth with my own hands.
My right hand made the sky.
And if I call them,
they will come to stand before me.
14 “All of you, come here and listen to me.
Did any of the false gods say these things would happen? No!
The Lord’s friend[b] will do what he wants
to Babylon and the Chaldeans.
15 “I told you that I would call him.
I will lead him,
and I will make him succeed.
16 Come here and listen to me!
I was there when Babylon began as a nation.
And from the beginning, I spoke clearly
so that people could know what I said.”
Now, the Lord God sends me and his Spirit to tell you these things. 17 The Lord, the Savior, the Holy One of Israel, says,
“I am the Lord your God.
I teach you for your own good.
I lead you in the way you should go.
18 If you had obeyed me,
then peace would have come to you
like a full flowing river.
Good things would have come to you again and again,
like the waves of the sea.
19 If you had obeyed me,
you would have had as many children as there are grains of sand.
And they would always have been mine
and would never have been destroyed.”
20 My people, leave Babylon!
My people, run from the Chaldeans!
Tell the news with joy.
Spread the news around the world.
Tell them,
“The Lord rescued his servant Jacob.”
21 They never got thirsty as he led them through the desert,
because he made water flow from a rock.
He split the rock,
and water flowed out.
22 But the Lord also said,
“There is no peace for evil people.”
Babylon Is Destroyed
18 Then I saw another angel coming down from heaven. This angel had great power. The angel’s glory made the earth bright. 2 The angel shouted with a powerful voice,
“She is destroyed!
The great city of Babylon is destroyed!
She has become a home for demons.
That city has become a place for every unclean spirit to live.
She is a city filled with all kinds of unclean birds.
She is a place where every unclean and hated animal lives.
3 All the peoples of the earth have drunk the wine
of her sexual sin and of God’s anger.
The rulers of the earth sinned sexually with her,
and the merchants of the world grew rich from the great wealth of her luxury.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say,
“Come out of that city, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins.
Then you will not suffer any of the terrible punishment she will get.
5 That city’s sins are piled up as high as heaven.
God has not forgotten the wrongs she has done.
6 Give that city the same as she gave to others.
Pay her back twice as much as she did.
Prepare wine for her that is twice as strong
as the wine she prepared for others.
7 She gave herself much glory and rich living.
Give her that much suffering and sadness.
She says to herself, ‘I am a queen sitting on my throne.
I am not a widow;
I will never be sad.’
8 So in one day she will suffer
great hunger, mourning, and death.
She will be destroyed by fire,
because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.
9 “The rulers of the earth who sinned sexually with her and shared her wealth will see the smoke from her burning. Then they will cry and be sad because of her death. 10 The rulers will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away. They will say,
‘Terrible! How terrible, O great city,
O powerful city of Babylon!
Your punishment came in one hour!’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will cry and be sad for her. They will be sad because now there is no one to buy the things they sell— 12 gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen cloth, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth, all kinds of citron wood, and all kinds of things made from ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble. 13 They also sell cinnamon, spice, incense, frankincense, myrrh, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, and slaves—yes, even human lives. The merchants will cry and say,
14 ‘O Babylon, the good things you wanted have left you.
All your rich and fancy things have disappeared.
You will never have them again.’
15 “The merchants will be afraid of her suffering and will stand far away from her. They are the ones who became rich from selling those things to her. They will cry and be sad. 16 They will say,
‘Terrible! How terrible for the great city!
She was dressed in fine linen;
she wore purple and scarlet cloth.
She was shining with gold, jewels, and pearls!
17 All these riches have been destroyed in one hour!’
“Every sea captain, all those who travel on ships, the sailors, and all those who earn money from the sea stood far away from Babylon. 18 They saw the smoke from her burning. They cried out, ‘There was never a city like this great city!’ 19 They threw dust on their heads and cried loudly to show the deep sorrow they felt. They said,
‘Terrible! How terrible for the great city!
All those who had ships on the sea became rich because of her wealth!
But she has been destroyed in one hour!
20 Be happy because of this, O heaven!
Be happy, God’s holy people and apostles and prophets!
God has punished her because of what she did to you.’”
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a large rock. This rock was as big as a large millstone. The angel threw the rock into the sea and said,
“That is how the great city of Babylon will be thrown down.
It will never be found again.
22 O Babylon, the music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes and trumpets
will never be heard in you again.
No worker doing any job
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voices of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s great people.
All the nations were tricked by your magic.
24 You are guilty of the death of the prophets, of God’s holy people,
and of all those who have been killed on earth.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International