M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
18 1-2 The Lord then told Moses to tell the people of Israel,
“I am Jehovah your God, 3 so don’t act like the heathen—like the people of Egypt where you lived so long, or the people of Canaan where I am going to take you. 4-5 You must obey only my laws, and you must carry them out in detail, for I am the Lord your God. If you obey them, you shall live.[a] I am the Lord.
6 “None of you shall marry[b] a near relative, for I am the Lord. 7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother, 8 nor any other of your father’s wives. 9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or half sister, whether the daughter of your father or your mother, whether brought up in the same household or elsewhere.
10 “You shall not have intercourse with your granddaughter—the daughter of either your son or your daughter—for she is a close relative.[c] 11 You may not have intercourse with a half sister—your father’s wife’s daughter; 12 nor your aunt—your father’s sister—because she is so closely related to your father; 13 nor your aunt—your mother’s sister—because she is a close relative of your mother; 14 nor your aunt—the wife of your father’s brother.[d]
15 “You may not marry your daughter-in-law—your son’s wife; 16 nor your brother’s wife, for she is your brother’s.[e] 17 You may not marry both a woman and her daughter or granddaughter, for they are near relatives, and to do so is horrible wickedness. 18 You shall not marry two sisters, for they will be rivals. However, if your wife dies, then it is all right to marry her sister.
19 “There must be no sexual relationship with a woman who is menstruating; 20 nor with anyone else’s wife, to defile yourself with her.
21 “You shall not give any of your children to Molech, burning them upon his altar; never profane the name of your God, for I am Jehovah.
22 “Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin. 23 A man shall have no sexual intercourse with any female animal, thus defiling himself; and a woman must never give herself to a male animal, to mate with it; this is a terrible perversion.
24 “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for these are the things the heathen do; and because they do them, I am going to cast them out from the land into which you are going. 25 That entire country is defiled with this kind of activity; that is why I am punishing the people living there, and will throw them out of the land.[f] 26 You must strictly obey all of my laws and ordinances, and you must not do any of these abominable things; these laws apply both to you who are born in the nation of Israel and to foreigners living among you.
27 “Yes, all these abominations have been done continually by the people of the land where I am taking you, and the land is defiled. 28 Do not do these things or I will throw you out of the land, just as I will throw out[g] the nations that live there now. 29-30 Whoever does any of these terrible deeds shall be excommunicated from this nation. So be very sure to obey my laws, and do not practice any of these horrible customs. Do not defile yourselves with the evil deeds of those living in the land where you are going. For I am Jehovah your God.”
22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why do you refuse to help me or even to listen to my groans? 2 Day and night I keep on weeping, crying for your help, but there is no reply— 3-4 for you are holy.
The praises of our fathers surrounded your throne; they trusted you and you delivered them. 5 You heard their cries for help and saved them; they were never disappointed when they sought your aid.
6 But I am a worm, not a man, scorned and despised by my own people and by all mankind. 7 Everyone who sees me mocks and sneers and shrugs. 8 “Is this the one who rolled his burden on the Lord?” they laugh. “Is this the one who claims the Lord delights in him? We’ll believe it when we see God rescue him!”
9-11 Lord, how you have helped me before![a] You took me safely from my mother’s womb and brought me through the years of infancy. I have depended upon you since birth; you have always been my God. Don’t leave me now, for trouble is near and no one else can possibly help.
12 I am surrounded by fearsome enemies, strong as the giant bulls from Bashan. 13 They come at me with open jaws, like roaring lions attacking their prey. 14 My strength has drained away like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart melts like wax; 15 my strength has dried up like sun-baked clay; my tongue sticks to my mouth, for you have laid me in the dust of death. 16 The enemy, this gang of evil men, circles me like a pack of dogs; they have pierced my hands and feet. 17 I can count every bone in my body. See these men of evil gloat and stare; 18 they divide my clothes among themselves by a toss of the dice.
19 O Lord, don’t stay away. O God my Strength, hurry to my aid. 20 Rescue me from death; spare my precious life from all these evil men.[b] 21 Save me from these lions’ jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen. Yes, God will answer me and rescue me.
22 I will praise you to all my brothers; I will stand up before the congregation and testify of the wonderful things you have done. 23 “Praise the Lord, each one of you who fears him,” I will say. “Each of you[c] must fear and reverence his name. Let all Israel sing his praises, 24 for he has not despised my cries of deep despair; he has not turned and walked away. When I cried to him, he heard and came.”
25 Yes, I will stand and praise you[d] before all the people. I will publicly fulfill my vows in the presence of all who reverence your name.
26 The poor[e] shall eat and be satisfied; all who seek the Lord shall find him and shall praise his name. Their hearts shall rejoice with everlasting joy. 27 The whole earth shall see it and return to the Lord; the people of every nation shall worship him.
28 For the Lord is King and rules the nations. 29 Both proud and humble together, all who are mortal—born to die—shall worship him. 30 Our children too shall serve him, for they shall hear from us about the wonders of the Lord; 31 generations yet unborn shall hear of all the miracles he did for us.
1 The author: Solomon[a] of Jerusalem, King David’s son, “The Preacher.”
2 In my opinion, nothing is worthwhile; everything is futile. 3-7 For what does a man get for all his hard work?
Generations come and go, but it makes no difference.[b] The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full, and the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea . . . 8-11 everything is unutterably weary and tiresome. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself. Nothing is truly new; it has all been done or said before. What can you point to that is new? How do you know it didn’t exist long ages ago? We don’t remember what happened in those former times, and in the future generations no one will remember what we have done back here.
12-15 I, the Preacher, was king of Israel, living in Jerusalem. And I applied myself to search for understanding about everything in the universe. I discovered that the lot of man, which God has dealt to him, is not a happy one. It is all foolishness, chasing the wind. What is wrong cannot be righted; it is water over the dam; and there is no use thinking of what might have been.
16-18 I said to myself, “Look, I am better educated than any of the kings before me in Jerusalem. I have greater wisdom and knowledge.” So I worked hard to be wise instead of foolish[c]—but now I realize that even this was like chasing the wind. For the more my wisdom, the more my grief; to increase knowledge only increases distress.
3 It is a true saying that if a man wants to be a pastor[a] he has a good ambition. 2 For a pastor must be a good man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must have only one wife, and he must be hard working and thoughtful, orderly, and full of good deeds. He must enjoy having guests in his home and must be a good Bible teacher. 3 He must not be a drinker or quarrelsome, but he must be gentle and kind and not be one who loves money. 4 He must have a well-behaved family, with children who obey quickly and quietly. 5 For if a man can’t make his own little family behave, how can he help the whole church?
6 The pastor must not be a new Christian because he might be proud of being chosen so soon, and pride comes before a fall. (Satan’s downfall is an example.) 7 Also, he must be well spoken of by people outside the church—those who aren’t Christians—so that Satan can’t trap him with many accusations and leave him without freedom to lead his flock.
8 The deacons must be the same sort of good, steady men as the pastors. They must not be heavy drinkers and must not be greedy for money. 9 They must be earnest, wholehearted followers of Christ, who is the hidden Source of their faith. 10 Before they are asked to be deacons, they should be given other jobs in the church as a test of their character and ability, and if they do well, then they may be chosen as deacons.
11 Their wives must be thoughtful, not heavy drinkers, not gossipers, but faithful in everything they do. 12 Deacons should have only one wife, and they should have happy, obedient families. 13 Those who do well as deacons will be well rewarded both by respect from others and also by developing their own confidence and bold trust in the Lord.
14 I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I don’t come for a while, you will know what kind of men you should choose as officers for the church of the living God, which contains and holds high the truth of God.
16 It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was proved spotless and pure in his Spirit, was served by angels, was preached among the nations, was accepted by men everywhere, and was received up again to his glory in heaven.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.