M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
B. The Deuteronomic Code
Chapter 12
One Center of Worship. 1 These are the statutes and ordinances which you must be careful to observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess, throughout the time you live on its soil.(A) 2 (B)Destroy entirely all the places where the nations you are to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.(C) 3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their asherahs, and chop down the idols of their gods, that you may destroy the very name of them from that place.
4 That is not how you are to act toward the Lord, your God. 5 Instead,(D) you shall seek out the place which the Lord, your God, chooses out of all your tribes and designates as his dwelling to put his name there.[a](E) There you shall go, 6 bringing your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, your votive and voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.(F) 7 There, too, in the presence of the Lord, your God, you and your families shall eat and rejoice in all your undertakings, in which the Lord, your God, has blessed you.(G)
8 You shall not do as we are doing here today, everyone doing what is right in their own sight,(H) 9 since you have not yet reached your resting place, the heritage which the Lord, your God, is giving you. 10 But after you have crossed the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, when he has given you rest from all your enemies round about and you live there in security,(I) 11 [b](J)then to the place which the Lord, your God, chooses as the dwelling place for his name you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, and every special offering you have vowed to the Lord. 12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord, your God, with your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as with the Levite within your gates, who has no hereditary portion with you.
13 (K)Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings in any place you like, 14 but offer them in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribal territories; there you shall do what I command you.
Profane and Sacred Slaughter. 15 [c]However, in any of your communities you may slaughter and eat meat freely, according to the blessing that the Lord, your God, has given you; the unclean as well as the clean may eat it, as they do the gazelle or the deer.(L) 16 [d]Only, you shall not eat of the blood, but must pour it out on the ground like water.(M) 17 Moreover, you may not, in your own communities, partake of your tithe of grain or wine or oil, of the firstborn of your herd or flock, of any offering you have vowed, of your voluntary offerings, or of your personal contributions. 18 These you must eat in the presence of the Lord, your God, in the place that the Lord, your God, chooses, along with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite within your gates; and there, in the presence of the Lord, you shall rejoice in all your undertakings. 19 Be careful, also, that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.(N)
20 (O)After the Lord, your God, has enlarged your territory, as he promised you,(P) and you think, “I will eat meat,” as it is your desire to eat meat, you may eat it freely; 21 and if the place where the Lord, your God, chooses to put his name is too far, you may slaughter in the manner I have commanded you any of your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, and eat it freely in your own community. 22 You may eat it as you would the gazelle or the deer: the unclean and the clean eating it together. 23 (Q)But make sure that you do not eat of the blood; for blood is life; you shall not eat that life with the flesh. 24 Do not eat of the blood, therefore, but pour it out on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat of it, that you and your children after you may prosper for doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26 However, any sacred gifts or votive offerings that you may have, you shall bring with you to the place which the Lord chooses, 27 and there you must sacrifice your burnt offerings, both the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord, your God; of your other sacrifices the blood indeed must be poured out against the altar of the Lord, your God,(R) but their flesh you may eat.
28 Be careful to heed all these words I command you today, that you and your descendants after you may forever prosper for doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord, your God.(S)
Warning Against Abominable Practices. 29 (T)When the Lord, your God, cuts down from before you the nations you are going in to dispossess, and you have dispossessed them and are settled in their land, 30 be careful that you not be trapped into following them after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire regarding their gods, “How did these nations serve their gods, so I might do the same.” 31 You shall not worship the Lord, your God, that way, because they offered to their gods every abomination that the Lord detests, even burning their sons and daughters to their gods.(U)
Psalm 97[a]
The Divine Ruler of All
I
1 The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many islands be glad.(A)
2 Cloud and darkness surround him;
justice and right are the foundation of his throne.(B)
3 Fire goes before him,
consuming his foes on every side.
4 His lightening illumines the world;
the earth sees and trembles.(C)
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.(D)
6 The heavens proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.(E)
II
7 All who serve idols are put to shame,
who glory in worthless things;
all gods[b] bow down before him.(F)
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O Lord.(G)
9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth,(H)
exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, hate evil,
he protects the souls of the faithful,(I)
rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the just,
and gladness for the honest of heart.(J)
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you just,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.(K)
Psalm 98[c]
The Coming of God
1 A psalm.
I
Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done marvelous deeds.(L)
His right hand and holy arm
have won the victory.[d](M)
2 The Lord has made his victory known;
has revealed his triumph in the sight of the nations,
3 He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
II
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
break into song; sing praise.
5 Sing praise to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious song.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout with joy to the King, the Lord.(N)
III
II. Isaiah 40—55[a]
A. The Lord’s Glory in Israel’s Liberation
Chapter 40
Promise of Salvation
1 [b]Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service[c] has ended,
that her guilt is expiated,
That she has received from the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
3 A voice proclaims:[d]
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!(A)
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
6 A voice says, “Proclaim!”
I answer, “What shall I proclaim?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their loyalty like the flower of the field.(B)
7 The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.”
“Yes, the people is grass!
8 The grass withers, the flower wilts,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
9 Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of good news![e]
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Cry out, do not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
10 Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
11 Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care.(C)
Power of God and the Vanity of Idols
12 Who has measured with his palm the waters,
marked off the heavens with a span,
held in his fingers the dust of the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?[f]
13 Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or instructed him as his counselor?(D)
14 Whom did he consult to gain knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment,
or showed him the way of understanding?
15 See, the nations count as a drop in the bucket,
as a wisp of cloud on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than a speck.[g]
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,[h]
nor its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nought,
as nothing and void he counts them.
18 To whom can you liken God?(E)
With what likeness can you confront him?
19 An idol? An artisan casts it,
the smith plates it with gold,
fits it with silver chains.[i](F)
20 Is mulberry wood the offering?
A skilled artisan picks out
a wood that will not rot,
Seeks to set up for himself
an idol that will not totter.(G)
21 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Was it not told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the founding of the earth?
22 The one who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,
its inhabitants like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,(H)
23 Who brings princes to nought
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem rooted in the earth,
When he breathes upon them and they wither,
and the stormwind carries them away like straw.
25 To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high
and see who created[j] these:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!(I)
27 Why, O Jacob, do you say,[k]
and declare, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is God from of old,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
29 He gives power to the faint,
abundant strength to the weak.
30 Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
31 They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar on eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.
Chapter 10
The Angel with the Small Scroll. 1 [a]Then I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven wrapped in a cloud, with a halo around his head; his face was like the sun and his feet were like pillars of fire. 2 In his hand he held a small scroll that had been opened. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,[b] 3 and then he cried out in a loud voice as a lion roars. When he cried out, the seven thunders[c] raised their voices, too.(A) 4 When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to write it down; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, but do not write it down.” 5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and earth and sea[d] and all that is in them, “There shall be no more delay.(B) 7 At the time when you hear the seventh angel blow his trumpet, the mysterious plan of God[e] shall be fulfilled, as he promised to his servants the prophets.”(C)
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. He said to me, “Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet[f] as honey.” 10 I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it. In my mouth it was like sweet honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.(D) 11 Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”[g]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.