M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Israel Belongs to God
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell all the Israelites: I am the Lord your God. I am holy, so you must be holy.
3 “Each of you must honor your mother and father and keep my special days of rest.[a] I am the Lord your God!
4 “Do not worship idols. Do not make statues of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
5 “When you offer a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord, you must offer it in the right way so that you will be accepted. 6 You may eat it the same day you offer it and on the next day. But if any of that sacrifice is left on the third day, you must burn it in the fire. 7 You must not eat any of that sacrifice on the third day. It will be unclean,[b] and it will not be accepted. 8 You will be guilty of sin if you do that because you did not respect the holy things that belong to the Lord. If you do that, you will be separated from your people.
9 “When you cut your crops at harvest time, don’t cut all the way to the corners of your fields. And if grain falls on the ground, you must not gather up that grain. 10 Don’t pick all the grapes in your vineyards or pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. You must leave those things for your poor people and for people traveling through your country. I am the Lord your God.
11 “You must not steal. You must not cheat people. You must not lie to each other. 12 You must not use my name to make false promises. If you do that, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God. I am the Lord!
13 “You must not cheat or rob your neighbor. You must not hold a hired worker’s salary overnight until morning.[c]
14 “You must not curse anyone who is deaf. You must not do anything to make a blind person fall. But you must respect your God. I am the Lord.
15 “You must be fair in judgment. You must not show special favor to the poor. And you must not show special favor to important people. You must be fair when you judge your neighbor. 16 You must not go around spreading false stories against other people. Don’t do anything that would put your neighbor’s life in danger. I am the Lord.
17 “Don’t secretly hate any of your neighbors. But tell them openly what they have done wrong so that you will not be just as guilty of sin as they are. 18 Forget about the wrong things people do to you. Don’t try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
19 “You must obey my laws. You must not let your animals mate with animals of a different kind. You must not sow your field with two kinds of seed. You must not wear clothing made from two kinds of material mixed together.
20 “It may happen that a man has sexual relations with a woman who is the slave of another man. But this slave woman has not been bought or given her freedom. If this happens, there must be punishment. But they will not be put to death because the woman was not free. 21 The man must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. He must bring a ram for a guilt offering. 22 The priest will make him pure by offering the ram as a guilt offering before the Lord. The offering is for the man’s sins, which will then be forgiven.
23 “In the future, when you enter your country, you will plant many kinds of trees for food. After planting a tree, you must wait three years before you can use any of the fruit from that tree. You must not use that fruit. 24 In the fourth year, the fruit from that tree will belong to the Lord, a holy offering of praise to him. 25 Then, in the fifth year, you can eat the fruit from that tree. And the tree will produce more and more fruit for you. I am the Lord your God.
26 “You must not eat any meat with blood still in it.
“You must not try to use different kinds of magic to tell the future.
27 “You must not round off the hair that grows on the side of your face. You must not cut your beard that grows on the side of your face. 28 You must not cut your body as a way to remember the dead. You must not make any tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.
29 “Do not dishonor your daughters by making them become prostitutes. If you do that, your whole country will turn away from God and be filled with all kinds of sinful things.
30 “You must not work on my special days of rest. You must honor my holy place. I am the Lord.
31 “Do not go to mediums or wizards for advice—they will only make you unclean. I am the Lord your God.
32 “Show honor to old people. Stand up when they come into the room. And show respect to your leaders.[d] I am the Lord.
33 “Do not do bad things to foreigners living in your country. 34 You must treat them the same as you treat your own citizens. Love them as you love yourselves. Remember, you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God!
35 “You must be fair when you judge people, and you must be fair when you measure and weigh things. 36 Your baskets should be the right size. Your jars should hold the right amount of liquids. Your weights and balances should weigh things correctly. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 “You must remember all my laws and rules. And you must obey them. I am the Lord.”
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I will always have everything I need.[a]
2 He gives me green pastures to lie in.
He leads me by calm pools of water.
3 He restores my strength.
He leads me on right paths[b] to show that he is good.
4 Even if I walk through a valley as dark as the grave,[c]
I will not be afraid of any danger, because you are with me.
Your rod and staff[d] comfort me.
5 You prepared a meal for me in front of my enemies.
You welcomed me as an honored guest.[e]
My cup is full and spilling over.
6 Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life,
and I will live in the Lord’s house[f] a long, long time.[g]
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built the earth on the water.
He built it over the rivers.
3 Who can go up on the Lord’s mountain[h]?
Who can stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those who have not done evil,
who have pure hearts,
who have not used my name[i] to hide their lies,
and who have not made false promises.
5 Good people ask the Lord to bless others.
They ask God, their Savior, to do good things.
6 They try to follow God.
They go to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Gates, proudly lift your heads!
Open, ancient doors,
and the glorious King will come in.
8 Who is the glorious King?
He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.
He is the Lord, the war hero.
9 Gates, proudly lift your heads!
Open, ancient doors,
and the glorious King will come in.
10 Who is the glorious King?
The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King. Selah
Does “Having Fun” Bring Happiness?
2 I said to myself, “I should have fun—I should enjoy everything as much as I can.” But I learned that this is also useless. 2 It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.
3 So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
Does Hard Work Bring Happiness?
4 Then I began doing great things. I built houses, and I planted vineyards for myself. 5 I planted gardens, and I made parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made pools of water for myself, and I used them to water my growing trees. 7 I bought men and women slaves, and there were slaves born in my house. I owned many great things. I had herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. I owned more things than any other person in Jerusalem did.
8 I also gathered silver and gold for myself. I took treasures from kings and their nations. I had men and women singing for me. I had everything any man could want.
9 I became very rich and famous. I was greater than anyone who lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom was always there to help me. 10 Anything my eyes saw and wanted, I got for myself. My mind was pleased with everything I did. And this happiness was the reward for all my hard work.
11 But then I looked at everything I had done and the wealth I had gained. I decided it was all a waste of time! It was like trying to catch the wind.[a] There is nothing to gain from anything we do in this life.[b]
Maybe Wisdom Is the Answer
12 Then I decided to think about what it means to be wise or to be foolish or to do crazy things. And I thought about the one who will be the next king. The new king will do the same as the kings before him.[c] 13 I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness in the same way that light is better than darkness. 14 Wise people use their minds like eyes to see where they are going. But for fools, it is as if they are walking in the dark.
I also saw that fools and wise people both end the same way. 15 I thought to myself, “The same thing that happens to a fool will also happen to me. So why have I tried so hard to become wise?” I said to myself, “Being wise is also useless.” 16 Whether people are wise or foolish, they will still die, and no one will remember either one of them forever. In the future, people will forget everything both of them did. So the two are really the same.
Is There Real Happiness in Life?
17 This made me hate life. It was depressing to think that everything in this life is useless, like trying to catch the wind.
18 I began to hate all the hard work I had done, because I saw that the people who live after me would get the things that I worked for. I will not be able to take them with me. 19 Some other person will control everything I worked and studied for. And I don’t know if that person will be wise or foolish. This is also senseless.
20 So I became sad about all the work I had done. 21 People can work hard using all their wisdom and knowledge and skill. But they will die and other people will get the things they worked for. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. That makes me very sad. It is also not fair and is senseless.
22 What do people really have after all their work and struggling in this life? 23 Throughout their life, they have pain, frustrations, and hard work. Even at night, a person’s mind does not rest. This is also senseless.
24-25 There is no one who has tried to enjoy life more than I have. And this is what I learned: The best thing people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy the work they must do. I also saw that this comes from God.[d] 26 If people do good and please God, he will give them wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But those who sin will get only the work of gathering and carrying things. God takes from the bad person and gives to the good person. But all this work is useless. It is like trying to catch the wind.
A Warning About False Teachers
4 The Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe. They will obey spirits that tell lies. And they will follow the teachings of demons. 2 Those teachings come through people who tell lies and trick others. These evil people cannot see what is right and what is wrong. It is like their conscience has been destroyed with a hot iron. 3 They say that it is wrong to marry. And they say that there are some foods that people must not eat. But God made these foods, and those who believe and who understand the truth can eat them with thanks. 4 Everything that God made is good. Nothing he made should be refused if it is accepted with thanks to him. 5 Everything he created is made holy by what he has said and by prayer.
Be a Good Servant of Christ Jesus
6 Tell this to the brothers and sisters there. This will show that you are a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will show that you are made strong by the words of faith and good teaching you have followed. 7 People tell silly stories that don’t agree with God’s truth. Don’t follow what these stories teach. But teach yourself to be devoted to God. 8 Training your body helps you in some ways. But devotion to God helps you in every way. It brings you blessings in this life and in the future life too. 9 Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question: 10 We hope in the living God, the Savior of all people. In particular, he is the Savior of all those who believe in him. This is why we work and struggle.
11 Command and teach these things. 12 You are young, but don’t let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by the way you live, by your love, by your faith, and by your pure life.
13 Continue to read the Scriptures to the people, encourage them, and teach them. Do this until I come. 14 Remember to use the gift you have, which was given to you through a prophecy[a] when the group of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Continue to do these things. Give your life to doing them. Then everyone can see that your work is progressing. 16 Be careful in your life and in your teaching. Continue to live and teach rightly. Then you will save yourself and those who listen to your teaching.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International