M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

25 “When two people have an argument, they should go to the court. The judges will decide which person is right and which is wrong. ² If the judge decides a person must be beaten with a whip, the judge must make that person lie face down. Someone will beat the guilty person while the judge watches. The number of times he must be hit depends on the crime. ³ Don’t hit anyone more than 40 times during punishment, because more than that means that their life is not important to you.

⁴ “When an animal is being used to separate grain, you must not cover its mouth to stop it from eating.

⁵ “If two brothers live together, and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man must not marry a stranger outside the family. Her husband’s brother must take her as his wife and have sexual relations with her. He must do the duty of a husband’s brother for her. ⁶ Then the first son she has will be considered the dead man’s son in order to keep the dead man’s name alive in Israel. ⁷ If the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, she must go to the town meeting place and tell the leaders, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He will not do the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ ⁸ Then the leaders of the city must call the man and talk to him. If the man is stubborn and says, ‘I don’t want to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife must come to him in front of the leaders. She must take his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. She must say, ‘This is being done to the man who will not give his brother a son!’ ¹⁰ From then on, the brother’s family will be known in Israel as, ‘the family of the man whose sandal was removed.’

¹¹ “Two men might be fighting against each other. One man’s wife might come to help her husband, but she must not grab the other man’s private parts. ¹² If she does that, cut off her hand. Don’t feel sorry for her.

¹³ “Don’t use weights that are too heavy or too light. ¹⁴ Don’t keep measures in your house that are too large or too small. ¹⁵ You must use weights and measures that are correct and accurate. Then you will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ The Lord your God hates people who cheat with false weights and measures. Yes, he hates all people who do wrong.

The Amalekites Must Be Destroyed

¹⁷ “Remember what the Amalekites did to you when you were coming from Egypt. ¹⁸ The Amalekites did not respect God. They attacked you when you were weak and tired. They killed all your people who were slow and walking behind everyone else. ¹⁹ That is why you must destroy the memory of the Amalekites from the world. You will do this when you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you. There he will give you rest from all the enemies around you. But do not forget to destroy the Amalekites!

Israel Will Be Saved

⁴ The Lord God says, “First, my people went down to Egypt and became slaves. Then Assyria made them slaves. ⁵ Now look what has happened. Another nation has taken my people,” says the Lord. “That country did not pay to take my people, but they rule over them and laugh at them, and they say bad things about me all the time.” The Lord is the one saying these things.

⁶ “This happened so that my people will learn about me. My people will know who I am. My people will know my name, and they will know that I Am He^[c] is speaking to them.”

⁷ How wonderful it is to see someone coming over the hills to tell good news. How wonderful to hear him announce, “There is peace! We have been saved!” and to hear him say to Zion, “Your God is the king!”

God’s Suffering Servant

¹³ The Lord says, “Look, my servant will succeed in what he has to do, and he will be raised to a position of high honor. ¹⁴ It is true that many were shocked when they saw him. He was beaten so badly that he no longer looked like a man. ¹⁵ But it is also true that many nations will be amazed at him. Kings will look at him and be unable to speak. They will see what they had never been told. They will understand what they had never heard.^[f]”

22 The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. ² It flows down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life is on each side of the river, and it produces fruit every month, twelve times a year. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations.

³ Nothing that God judges guilty will be there in that city. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. God’s servants will worship him. ⁴ They will see his face. God’s name will be written on their foreheads. ⁵ There will never be night again. People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun. The Lord God will give them light. And they will rule like kings forever and ever.

⁶ Then the angel said to me, “These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon: ⁷ ‘Listen, I am coming soon! Great blessings belong to the one who obeys the words of prophecy in this book.’”

⁸ I am John. I am the one who heard and saw these things. After I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. ⁹ But the angel said to me, “Don’t worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers the prophets. I am a servant like all those who obey the words in this book. You should worship God!”

¹⁰ Then the angel told me, “Don’t keep secret the words of prophecy in this book. The time is near for these things to happen. ¹¹ Let anyone who is doing wrong continue to do wrong. Let anyone who is unclean continue to be unclean. Let anyone who is doing right continue to do right. Let anyone who is holy continue to be holy.”

¹² “Listen, I am coming soon! I will bring rewards with me. I will repay everyone for what they have done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega,^[a] the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

¹⁴ “Great blessings belong to those who have washed their robes.^[b] They will have the right to eat the food from the tree of life. They can go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside the city are all those who live like dogs—those who do evil magic, those who sin sexually, those who murder, those who worship idols, and those who love to lie and pretend to be good.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to tell you these things for the churches. I am the descendant from the family of David. I am the bright morning star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Everyone who hears this should also say, “Come!” All who are thirsty may come; they can have the water of life as a free gift if they want it.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to these, God will give that person the plagues written about in this book. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away that person’s share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are written about in this book.

²⁰ Jesus is the one who says that all of this is true. Now he says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all people.