M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules about sex
18 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell Israel's people that I am the Lord their God. 3 They were living in Egypt, but they must not do as the people in Egypt do. Now I am bringing them to live in Canaan. They must not live in the way that the people in Canaan live. They must not do the things that those people do. 4 They must obey my rules. I am the Lord their God. 5 If they obey my rules and my laws, they will continue to live safely. I am the Lord.
6 Tell them this:
A person must not have sex with anyone who belongs to his own family. I am the Lord.
7 Do not have sex with your mother. That would cause your father to be ashamed.
8 Do not have sex with any wife of your father. Your father would be ashamed.
9 Do not have sex with your sister. Do not have sex with a sister who is your mother's daughter or your father's daughter. It does not matter if she was born in your house or in another house. Do not have sex with any sister.
10 Do not have sex with any granddaughter. That would make you ashamed.
11 Do not have sex with the daughter of your father and his wife. She is your sister.
12 Do not have sex with your father's sister. She is his near relative.
13 Do not have sex with your mother's sister. She is her near relative.
14 Do not have sex with the wife of your father's brother. That would make your uncle ashamed. His wife is your aunt.
15 Do not have sex with your son's wife.
16 Do not have sex with your brother's wife. That would make your brother ashamed.
17 Do not have sex with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sex with her son's daughter or with her daughter's daughter. They are her near relatives. It would be an evil thing to do.
18 Do not marry your wife's sister as a second wife. If your wife is still alive, do not have sex with her sister.
19 Do not have sex with a woman at the time when she bleeds each month. She is unclean during that time.
20 Do not have sex with the wife of another man. You would become unclean.
21 Do not offer your child as a sacrifice to the false god, Molech. This would spoil God's honour. He is the Lord.
22 A man must not have sex with another man. That is an evil thing to do.
23 Do not have sex with an animal. That would make you unclean. A woman must not offer herself to an animal to have sex with it. She would be doing a disgusting thing.
24 Do not do any of these things. They would make you unclean. The people who live in Canaan do these things. It made them unclean. God will send those people out of their country. 25 Canaan is unclean because the people did these things. This is why God pushed the people out of that land. 26 But you and the foreigners with you must not do these wrong things. 27 The people in Canaan did these bad things and the land became unclean. 28 If you do these bad things, I will push you out of Canaan's land. I will send you away, like the people before you.
29 You must send away any person who does any of these bad things. 30 All the people must obey my rules. They must not do the bad things that the people in Canaan did. If they did them, my people would become unclean. I am the Lord your God.’
The leader must use the music called ‘The Deer of the Dawn.’
This is a song that David wrote.
Please help me, God!
22 My God!
My God, why have you left me alone?
Why is my help far away?
I am crying out in great pain!
2 My God!
I call aloud to you for help every day,
all day and all night!
But you do not answer my prayers,
so I cannot sleep.
3 I know that you are the Holy God.
You sit on your throne as king,
and Israel's people praise you.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you.
When they trusted you, you saved them.
5 They called aloud to you and you saved them.
They trusted in you,
and you did not disappoint them.[a]
6 People insult me.
They think that I am worth nothing.
It seems that I am only a worm,
and I am not really a man.
7 Everyone that sees me laughs at me.
They laugh and they shake their heads.
8 They say, ‘He should trust in the Lord!
The Lord should save him.
If the Lord is really happy with him,
the Lord should rescue him.’
9 Lord, you brought me safely to birth.
You took care of me at my mother's breasts.
10 From the day that I was born,
I have always been in your care.
You have been my God since my mother gave birth to me.
11 So do not stay far from me now.
Trouble is near to me,
and there is nobody to help me.
12 There is danger all round me,
like the strong bulls of Bashan.[b]
I cannot move
because my enemies are very near, all around me.
13 They open their mouths like lions!
They are ready to eat me!
They are like lions that tear their food into pieces.
14 My strength has gone,
like water that is poured away.
My bones do not join together properly.
I feel weak inside
and hope has disappeared.
15 My mouth has become dry like a piece of a broken pot.
My tongue sticks to my mouth.
You have left me down in the dirt,
as good as dead!
16 Wicked people are everywhere around me.
They are ready to attack me,
like a group of wild dogs.
They tear apart my hands and my feet.
17 My body is so weak
I can count all my bones.
My enemies look at me and they laugh.
They are happy because I have pain.
18 They have taken my clothes,
and they choose what they want for themselves.
They throw dice to decide who receives each piece.
19 But Lord, please do not stay far away from me!
You can make me strong again.
Please hurry to help me!
20 Keep me safe!
My enemies want to kill me with their swords.
Save my life from those wild dogs!
21 Do not let those lions eat me!
Keep me safe from the horns of those wild bulls!
I know that you have answered my prayer!
22 I will tell my people how great you are.
I will praise you when we meet together.
23 Everyone who serves the Lord must praise him!
All Jacob's descendants must respect him!
Yes, all Israel's people must worship him!
24 God did not forget to help the man who was in pain.
He did not turn away from the one who suffered.
When he called to God for help,
God answered his prayer.[c]
25 Yes, I will praise you, God,
in the great meeting of your people.
I will give to you what I have promised to give.
Everyone who serves you, Lord, will see that.
26 Poor people will have plenty of food to eat.
Those who come to the Lord will praise him.
May God help you to live well for ever!
27 People everywhere in the world will respect the Lord.
They will turn to him for help.
Families from all nations will worship you.
28 The Lord rules as king over all the nations.
29 All the rich people on earth will bend down,
and they will worship God.
Everyone will die one day.
They must all bend down in front of God.
Nobody can keep himself alive.
30 Our children will also serve God.
And they will tell their children about our Lord.
31 They will speak about all the great things that God has done
to save his people.
People who have not yet been born
will learn about the things that God has done.[d]
Nothing has a purpose
1 These are the words of the Teacher, David's son, who ruled as king in Jerusalem.[a]
2 The Teacher says, ‘Nothing has a purpose.
Nothing that ever happens has a purpose.’
3 People work very hard while they live on the earth.
But in the end, what do they receive in return for their work?
4 Old people die and then their children live after them.
But the earth continues and it never changes.
5 The sun rises in the morning and it disappears in the evening.
Then it quickly moves to rise again the next morning.
6 The wind blows to the south. Then it turns to the north.
It blows in every direction. Then it starts again.
7 All rivers pour water into the sea, but the sea does not become full.
The water returns to the rivers and it all happens again.
8 Everything continues in the same way.
There is nothing important to talk about.
Nothing that we see is enough to make us happy.
There are always more things that we want to hear.
9 Things that are happening now will continue to happen in the future.
What people have done before, other people will do again.
There is nothing truly new anywhere on the earth.
10 People may say, ‘Look! Here is something new!’
But really it happened long ago, before we were born.
11 People do not remember things that happened in the past.
In the future, people will not remember what has happened either.
Wisdom has no purpose
12 I, the Teacher, ruled Israel as king in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to study everything that happens on the earth. I used wisdom to try to understand these things. I realized that God has given people hard work to do, which causes them to suffer. 14 I thought about all the things that people do on the earth. I realized that all these things have no purpose. It is like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
15 If someone has bent something,
you cannot always make it straight again.
You cannot count things,
if they are not there.[b]
16 I said to myself, ‘Listen! I have become very wise! I am much wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I know a lot more things than they ever did!’ 17 So I decided to study how much wisdom and knowledge really help a person. I wanted to learn if it was better than someone who only does foolish things. But this was also useless, like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
18 The more wisdom you have,
the more you will worry.
The more you learn,
the more you suffer.[c]
Leaders of the church
3 These words are true: ‘If you want to become a leader of God's people, it is an important work that you want to do.’ 2 For that reason, a leader of the church must live a life that everyone knows is good. He must be the husband of one wife. He must think seriously about how he lives and he must control himself well. He must be someone that people respect. He must be happy to have visitors in his home. He must be a good teacher. 3 He should not drink too much wine. He must not get angry quickly or quarrel with people. Instead he should be kind to people. He must not want lots of money. 4 He must take care of his own family. His children must obey him and respect him. 5 A man must know how to take care of his own family. If he cannot do that, he will not be able to take care of God's people in the church.
6 A leader of the church must not be someone who has believed in Christ for only a short time. Someone like that might boast that he is great and important. Then he would receive punishment, as the Devil did. 7 Also, people outside the church should agree that the leader is a good person. Then nobody can say anything bad against him. And so, he will not come under the Devil's power.[a]
Helpers in the church
8 In the same way, deacons must live good lives, so that people respect them. They must not be hypocrites. They must not drink too much wine. They must not want to get a lot of money for themselves. 9 They must completely believe the true message that God has shown us about Christ. They must be sure in their minds about it. 10 Before anyone becomes a deacon, you must first test their character. If they are good enough, then let them serve God as deacons.
11 Deacons' wives must live good lives, so that people respect them.[b] They must not say bad things against people. They must think carefully about how they live. People should know that they are honest in everything they do.
12 A deacon must be the husband of one wife. He must take care of his children and everyone who lives in his house. 13 If a deacon serves God's people well, then people will respect him as a good person. He will become strong to tell people about his faith in Christ Jesus.
14 I hope to come to visit you soon. But anyway, I want to write these things to you now. 15 Then, even if I cannot come to you soon, you will know how people in God's family should live. That family is the church of God, who lives for ever. God's family, the church, teaches God's true message and keeps it safe.
16 Yes, the message that God has shown us about Jesus Christ is very great. We all agree to this:
God showed him to us as a man.
God's Spirit showed that he always did what was right.
Angels saw him.
People taught his message in many countries of the world.
People in the world believed in him.
God took him up to be with himself in heaven.[c]
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