M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
20 “The Lord will send upon you curses, trouble and sharp words in all you try to do, until you are destroyed. You will be quick to die, because of the sinful things you do, and because you have turned away from Me. 21 The Lord will make disease to be with you until He has destroyed you from the land you are going in to take. 22 The Lord will punish you with a wasting disease, a hot sickness, growing pain, heat like fire, the sword, and diseases that destroy your food. They will follow you until you die. 23 The heavens above your head will be brass. And the earth under you will be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land into dust. It will come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 The Lord will cause you to lose the battle against those who hate you. You will go one way against them, but run seven ways away from them. You will fill all the nations of the earth with fear. 26 Your dead bodies will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth. There will be no one to make them afraid and to send them away.
27 “The Lord will punish you with the sores of Egypt, growing sores, and skin diseases, that will not be healed. 28 The Lord will punish you by making you crazy, and blind, and troubled in your mind. 29 You will have to feel for your way at noon, as the blind man feels his way in darkness. And your way will not go well. It will be made hard for you, and you will always be robbed. There will be no one to save you. 30 You will marry a wife. But another man will lie with her. You will build a house. But you will not live in it. You will plant vines. But you will not eat the fruit. 31 Your bull will be killed in front of you. But you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be taken from you, and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to those who hate you. No one will help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation. Your eyes will watch for them always and you will have much desire for them. But there will be nothing you can do. 33 A nation you have not known will eat the food of your field and of your work. You will suffer under the power of others always. 34 You will be driven crazy by what you see. 35 The Lord will make sores on your knees and legs that you cannot heal, from the bottom of your foot to the top of your head. 36 The Lord will bring you and your chosen king to a nation that you and your fathers have not known. There you will work for other gods, of wood and stone. 37 You will become a people who are hated, who are made fun of, and a shame among the people where the Lord will send you.
38 “You will sow much seed in the field, but gather little, for the locust will eat it. 39 You will plant and take care of vines, but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, for worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees everywhere. But you will not pour the oil upon yourself, for your olives will fall off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will not keep them, for they will be taken away. 42 The locust will own all your trees and the food of your field. 43 The stranger among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will become less and less. 44 He will give to you. But you will not give to him. He will be the head and you will be the tail. 45 All these curses will come upon you. They will follow you and come upon you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping all the Laws He gave you. 46 They will be something special to see, and a powerful work upon you and your children forever. 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart because of all He has given you, 48 you will serve those who hate you, whom the Lord will send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, without clothing, and needing all things. He will put a heavy load on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49 “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as fast as an eagle flies. It will be a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation that shows a hard face. It will have no respect for the old, or show favor to the young. 51 It will eat the young ones of your cattle and the food of your field until you are destroyed. It will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, or the young of your cattle or flock, until it has caused you to die. 52 Your towns will be taken over by its armies until your high strong walls that you have trusted in come down everywhere in your land. Its armies will take over all your towns everywhere in the land the Lord your God has given you. 53 During this time and because of the trouble caused by those who hate you, you will eat your own children, the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you. 54 The most gentle man among you will be against his brother, the wife he loves, and the children he still has. 55 He will not give them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because it is all he has left for himself. This is how bad the trouble will be that those who hate you will bring to all your towns. 56 The most gentle woman among you may be careful not to set the bottom of her foot on the ground. But she will be hard to the husband she loves, to her son and daughter, 57 to the afterbirth which comes out of her body, and to the children who are born from her. She will eat them in secret because she has nothing else. This is how bad the trouble will be that those who hate you will bring to all your towns.
58 “If you are not careful to obey all the words of the Law which are written in this book, to fear this honored name of the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will bring bad diseases on you and your children, hard and lasting diseases and sicknesses. 60 He will bring all the diseases upon you that you were afraid of in Egypt. And they will stay with you. 61 The Lord will bring upon you every sickness and every trouble which is not written in the book of this Law also, until you are destroyed. 62 You will have been as many as the stars of heaven but there will be few of you left, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 As the Lord was happy with you and caused good to come to you and you were many, He will be happy to bring trouble upon you and destroy you. And you will be taken from the land you are going in to take. 64 The Lord will spread you out among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve other gods, of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known. 65 You will find no rest among those nations. There will be no place of rest for the bottom of your foot. But there the Lord will give you fear in your heart, eyes that become weak, and sorrow in your soul. 66 Your life will be full of doubts. You will be afraid night and day. And you will not be sure of anything in your life. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If it were only evening!’ In the evening you will say, ‘If it were only morning!’ because of the fear of your heart, and the things your eyes see. 68 The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, in the way I said, ‘You will never see it again.’ There you will try to sell yourselves as men and women servants to those who hate you. But no one will buy you.”
25 My soul is laid in the dust. Give me new life because of Your Word. 26 I have told about my ways, and You have answered me. Teach me Your Law. 27 Make me understand the way of Your Law so I will talk about Your great works. 28 My soul cries because of sorrow. Give me strength because of Your Word. 29 Take the false way from me. Show Your loving-favor by giving me Your Law. 30 I have chosen the faithful way. I have set Your Law in front of me. 31 I hold on to Your Law, O Lord. Do not put me to shame. 32 I will run the way of Your Law, for You will give me a willing heart.
33 O Lord, teach me the way of Your Law and I will obey it to the end. 34 Give me understanding. Then I will listen to Your Word and obey it with all my heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your Word, for I find joy in it. 36 Turn my heart toward Your Law, so I will not earn money in a wrong way. 37 Turn my eyes away from things that have no worth, and give me new life because of Your ways. 38 Keep Your promise to Your servant, the promise You made to those who fear and worship You. 39 Turn away the shame that I do not want to come to me, for Your Law is good. 40 O, how I desire Your Law! Give me new life because of Your right and good way.
41 May Your loving-kindness also come to me, O Lord. May You save me as Your Word says. 42 Then I will have an answer for the one who puts me to shame, for I trust in Your Word. 43 Do not take the word of truth out of my mouth, for I hope in Your Law. 44 I will always obey Your Law, forever and ever. 45 I will walk as a free man, for I look for Your Law. 46 I will speak of Your Law in front of kings and will not be ashamed. 47 I will be glad in Your Law, which I love. 48 I will lift up my hands to Your Word, which I love, and I will think about Your Law.
A Great Full Life
55 “Listen! Every one who is thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread? Why spend your pay for what you do not enjoy? Listen well to Me, and eat what is good. Find joy in the best food. 3 Listen and come to Me. Hear, so you may live. And I will make an agreement with you that lasts forever, because of the faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I made him one who told of what he had seen and heard to the nations, a leader and ruler of the people. 5 See, you will call nations that you do not know. And nations that did not know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. For He has given shining-greatness to you.”
6 Look for the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the sinful turn from his way, and the one who does not know God turn from his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have loving-pity on him. Let him turn to our God, for He will for sure forgive all his sins. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 The rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without giving water to the earth. This makes plants grow on the earth, and gives seeds to the planter and bread to the eater. 11 So My Word which goes from My mouth will not return to Me empty. It will do what I want it to do, and will carry out My plan well. 12 You will go out with joy, and be led out in peace. The mountains and the hills will break out into sounds of joy before you. And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress tree will come up. Instead of the thistle, the myrtle tree will come up. It will cause you to remember the Lord, something special to see that will last forever.”
John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for Jesus (A)
3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the desert in the country of Judea. 2 He said, “Be sorry for your sins and turn from them! The holy nation of heaven is near.” 3 The early preacher Isaiah spoke of this man. He said, “Listen! His voice calls out in the desert! ‘Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him!’” (B)
4 John wore clothes made of hair from camels. He had a leather belt around him. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then the people of Jerusalem and of all the country of Judea and those from near the Jordan River went to him. 6 Those who told of their sins were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 He saw many proud religious law-keepers and other people of the religious group who believe no one will be raised from the dead. They were coming to him to be baptized. He said to them, “You family of snakes! Who told you how to keep from God’s anger that is coming? 8 Do something to show me that your hearts are changed. 9 Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones.
10 “Even now the ax is on the root of the trees. Every tree that does not give good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 For sure, I baptize with water those who are sorry for their sins and turn from them. The One Who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is greater than I. I am not good enough to take off His shoes. 12 He comes ready to clean the grain. He will gather the grain in and clean it all. The clean grain He will put into a building. He will burn that which is no good with a fire that cannot be put out.”
The Baptism of Jesus (C)
13 Jesus came from Galilee. He went to John at the Jordan River to be baptized by him. 14 John tried to stop Him. He said, “I need to be baptized by You. Do You come to me?” 15 Jesus said to him, “Let it be done now. We should do what is right.” John agreed and baptized Jesus. 16 When Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened. He saw the Spirit of God coming down and resting on Jesus like a dove. 17 A voice was heard from heaven. It said, “This is My much-loved Son. I am very happy with Him.”
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