M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The One Place for Worship

12 “These are the Laws you should be careful to obey in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you for your own as long as you live on the earth. ² Be sure to destroy all the places of worship of the nations whose place you are taking. Destroy them on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. ³ Break down their altars and crush their pillars of worship. Burn their wooden female gods of worship named Asherim with fire. Cut down the objects made to look like their gods. And destroy their name from that place. ⁴ But do not act like this toward the Lord your God. ⁵ Look for the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your family groups. There He will make His name known, and make His home there, and there you will come. ⁶ Bring to this place your burnt gifts, your gifts of worship, the tenth part of what you receive, the gifts of your hands, your promises, your free-will gifts, and the first-born of your cattle and your flock. ⁷ You and those of your house will eat there before the Lord your God, and have joy in all that you do, in which the Lord your God has brought good to you. ⁸ You will not do at all the things we are doing here today, for every man is doing whatever is right in his own eyes. ⁹ For you have not yet come to the resting place and the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰ You will cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you. He will give you rest from all those around you who hate you, so you will be safe. ¹¹ Then bring all I tell you to the place where the Lord your God will choose to make His name known. Bring your burnt gifts, your gifts of worship, the tenth part of what you receive, the gifts of your hands, and all the special gifts that you promised to the Lord. ¹² Be full of joy before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your men and women servants, and the Levite within your town who has no share of their gift. ¹³ Be careful that you do not give your burnt gifts in just any place you see. ¹⁴ But give your burnt gifts in the place which the Lord chooses in the land where your families live. There you should do all that I tell you.

¹⁵ “But you may kill and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you want, as the Lord your God has given you His good gifts. Both the clean and the unclean may eat of it, as you would of the gazelle and the deer. ¹⁶ Only do not eat the blood. You are to pour it out on the ground like water. ¹⁷ You are not allowed to eat within your towns the tenth part of your grain, or new wine, or oil, or the first-born of your cattle or flock, or any of your promised gifts, or your free-will gifts, or the gifts of your hands. ¹⁸ But you should eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, your men and women servants, and the Levite who is within your towns. Be full of joy before the Lord your God in everything you do. ¹⁹ Be careful that you do not stop caring for the Levites as long as you live in your land.

²⁰ “The Lord your God will give you more land as He has promised you. And when you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you want to eat meat, then you may eat as much meat as you want. ²¹ If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may kill from your cattle or flock which the Lord has given you, as I have told you, and you may eat within your towns whatever you want. ²² You will eat it just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten. Both the clean and unclean may eat of it. ²³ Only be sure not to eat the blood. For the blood is the life. You must not eat the life with the flesh. ²⁴ Do not eat it, but pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵ Do not eat it, so it may go well with you and your children after you. For you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. ²⁶ Take your holy things which you may have and all the special gifts you promised to give to the place which the Lord chooses. ²⁷ Give your burnt gifts, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your gifts will be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God. And you will eat the flesh. ²⁸ Be careful to listen to all these words I am telling you. Then it will go well with you and your children after you forever. For you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

Israel to Watch out for False Gods

²⁹ “The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations whose land you will take. You will take their place and live in their land. ³⁰ But be careful that you are not fooled into following them, after they are destroyed before you. Do not ask about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods so that I may do the same?’ ³¹ Do not act this way toward the Lord your God. For they have done for their gods every sinful act which the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

³² “Be careful to do whatever I tell you. Do not add to it or take away from it.

God’s Power over the Earth

97 The Lord rules. Let the earth be full of joy. Let the many islands be glad. ² Clouds and darkness are all around Him. His throne is built upon what is right and fair. ³ Fire goes before Him and burns up those who hate Him on every side. ⁴ His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and shakes. ⁵ The mountains melt like a candle before the Lord, before the Lord of the whole earth. ⁶ The heavens tell about how right and good He is. And all the people see His shining-greatness.

⁷ Let all those who serve false gods be ashamed, those who talk about how great their gods are. Worship Him, all you gods! ⁸ Zion heard this and was glad. The people of Judah have been full of joy because of what You decide, O Lord. ⁹ For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth. You are honored above all gods.

¹⁰ Let those who love the Lord hate what is bad. For He keeps safe the souls of His faithful ones. He takes them away from the hand of the sinful. ¹¹ Light is spread like seed for those who are right and good, and joy for the pure in heart. ¹² Be glad in the Lord, you who are right and good. Give thanks to His holy name.

A Call to Praise the Lord

98 Sing a new song to the Lord. For He has done great things. His right hand and His holy arm have won the fight for Him. ² The Lord has made His saving power known. He has shown to the nations how right and good He is. ³ He has shown His loving-kindness and how beautiful He is to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of our God.

⁴ Call out for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Sing out loud songs of joy and sing praises. ⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with harps, with harps and the voice of singing. ⁶ Call out for joy with the sound of horns before the King, the Lord.

⁷ Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise, and the world and all who live in it. ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy ⁹ before the Lord. For He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be fair to the people.

God’s People Have Hope

40 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. ² “Speak kind words to Jerusalem. Call out to her that her time of war has ended, that her sin has been taken away, and that she has received from the Lord’s hand twice as much for all her sins.”

³ A voice is calling, “Make the way ready for the Lord in the desert. Make the road in the desert straight for our God. ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the bad places will be made smooth. ⁵ Then the shining-greatness of the Lord will be seen. All flesh together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ⁶ A voice says, “Cry.” And he said, “What should I cry?” All flesh is grass. All its beauty is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass dries up and the flower loses its color when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. For sure the people are grass. ⁸ The grass dries up. The flower loses its color. But the Word of our God stands forever.

⁹ O Zion, you who bring good news, go up on the high mountain! Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you who bring good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” ¹⁰ See, the Lord God will come with power, and His arm will rule for Him. See, He is bringing the reward He will give to everyone for what he has done. ¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in His arms and carry them close to His heart. He will be gentle in leading those that are with young.

¹² Who knows how much water is in His hand? Who has used his hand to know how far the heavens reach? Who knows what the dust of the earth would fill? Who has weighed the mountains and the hills? ¹³ Who has led the Spirit of the Lord? Who has taught Him words of wisdom? ¹⁴ From whom did He ask for wisdom, and who gave Him understanding? Who taught Him the right way, and taught Him much learning? Who showed Him the way of understanding? ¹⁵ See, the nations are like a drop in a pail. Their weight is like a little piece of dust. See, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. ¹⁶ Even Lebanon is not enough to burn. Its animals are not enough for a burnt gift in worship. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before Him. He thinks of them as less than nothing and of no worth.

¹⁸ To Whom then is God like? What will you compare Him with? ¹⁹ An able workman makes a false god. A man who works with gold covers it with gold. And a man who works with silver makes silver chains for it. ²⁰ He who is too poor to give such a gift, picks out a tree that will not waste away. He finds an able workman to set up a false god that will not be moved.

²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the beginning of the earth? ²² It is God Who sits on the throne above the earth. The people living on the earth are like grasshoppers. He spreads out the heavens like a curtain. He spreads them out like a tent to live in. ²³ It is He Who brings rulers down to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth as nothing. ²⁴ They have just been planted, and have begun to take root in the earth. But He only blows on them and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like dry grass. ²⁵ “To whom will you compare Me, that I should be like him?” says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes and see. Who has made these stars? It is the One Who leads them out by number. He calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of His strength, and because He is strong in power, not one of them is missing.

²⁷ O Jacob and Israel, why do you say, “My way is hidden from the Lord. My God does not think about my cause”? ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The God Who lives forever is the Lord, the One Who made the ends of the earth. He will not become weak or tired. His understanding is too great for us to begin to know. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weak. And He gives power to him who has little strength. ³⁰ Even very young men get tired and become weak and strong young men trip and fall. ³¹ But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak.

The Angel and the Little Book

10 Then I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven covered with a cloud. He had many colors around his head. His face was like the sun. His feet were like long flames of fire. ² He had in his hand a little book that was open. The angel put his right foot on the sea. He put his left foot on the land. ³ He cried with a loud voice like the sound of a lion. The seven thunders sounded. ⁴ I was ready to write when the seven thunders had spoken. Then I heard the voice from heaven saying, “Lock up the things which the seven thunders have spoken. Do not write them!”

⁵ Then the strong angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven. ⁶ He made a promise in the name of God Who lives forever, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. He promised that there will be no more waiting. ⁷ And when the seventh angel blows his horn, God will put His secret plan into action. It will be done just as He told it to the early preachers, His servants.

⁸ Then the voice I heard from heaven spoke to me again. It said, “Go and take the little book that is open. It is in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. He said, “Take it and eat it. It will taste like honey in your mouth. But after you have eaten it, it will make your stomach sour.” ¹⁰ Then I took it from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but it made my stomach sour after I had eaten it.

¹¹ Then they said to me, “You must tell what will happen again in front of many people and nations and families and kings.”