M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord Will Be with Israel
9 Listen, Israel. You will soon cross the Jordan River. You will go in to force out nations that are bigger and stronger than you. They have large cities with walls up to the sky. 2 The people there are Anakites. They are strong and tall. You know about them. You have heard it said: “No one can stop the Anakites.” 3 But today remember that the Lord your God goes in before you. He will destroy them like a fire that burns things up. He will defeat them ahead of you. And you will force them out. You will destroy them quickly. It will happen just as the Lord has said.
4 The Lord your God will force those nations out ahead of you. After that, don’t say to yourself, “The Lord brought me here. I own this land because I am so good.” No! It is because these nations are evil. That is why the Lord will force them out ahead of you. 5 You are going in to own the land. But it is not because you are good and honest. It is because these nations are evil. That is why the Lord your God will force them out ahead of you. The Lord will keep his promise to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 The Lord your God is giving you this good land to own. But know this: It is not because you are good. You are a stubborn people.
Remember the Lord’s Anger
7 Remember this. Do not forget it. You made the Lord your God angry in the desert. You would not obey the Lord from the day you left Egypt until you arrived here. 8 At Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry. He was angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up on the mountain to receive the stone tablets. The tablets were the agreement the Lord had made with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. 10 The Lord gave me two stone tablets. God had written on them with his own finger. On them were all the commands of the Lord. He gave them to you on the mountain out of the fire. This was on the day you were gathered there.
11 Then the 40 days and 40 nights were over. And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets. Those tablets had the agreement on them. 12 Then the Lord told me, “Get up. Go down quickly from here. The people you brought out from Egypt are ruining themselves. They have quickly turned away from what I commanded. They have made an idol for themselves.”
13 The Lord said to me, “I have watched these people. They are very stubborn! 14 Get away. I will destroy them. I will make the whole world forget who they are. Then I will make another nation from you. It will be bigger and stronger than they are.”
15 So I turned and came down the mountain. The mountain was burning with fire. And the two stone tablets with the agreement were in my hands. 16 When I looked, I saw you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made an idol in the shape of a calf. You had quickly turned away from what the Lord had told you to do. 17 So I took the two stone tablets and threw them down. I broke them into pieces right in front of you.
18 Then I again bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. I did this for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. You had sinned by doing what the Lord said was evil. You made him angry. 19 I was afraid of the Lord’s anger and rage. He was angry enough with you to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again. 20 And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But then I prayed for Aaron, too. 21 I took that sinful calf idol you had made. And I burned it in the fire. I crushed it into a powder like dust. And I threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
22 You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah.
23 Then the Lord sent you away from Kadesh Barnea. He said, “Go up and take the land I have given you.” But you would not obey the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. 24 You have refused to obey the Lord as long as I have known you.
25 The Lord had said he would destroy you. So I threw myself down in front of him for those 40 days and 40 nights. 26 I prayed to the Lord. I said, “Lord God, do not destroy your people. They are your own people. You freed them and brought them out of Egypt by your great power and strength. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Don’t look at how stubborn these people are. Don’t look at their sin and evil. 28 Otherwise, Egypt will say, ‘The Lord was not able to take his people into the land he promised them. He hated them. So he took them into the desert to kill them.’ 29 But they are your people, Lord. They are your own people. You brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength.”
Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness
A song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is good to praise the Lord,
to sing praises to God Most High.
2 It is good to tell of your love in the morning
and of your loyalty at night.
3 It is good to praise you with the ten-stringed lyre
and with the soft-sounding harp.
4 Lord, you have made me happy by what you have done.
I will sing for joy about what your hands have done.
5 Lord, you have done such great things!
How deep are your thoughts!
6 Stupid people don’t know these things.
Fools don’t understand.
7 Wicked people grow like the grass.
Evil people seem to do well.
But they will be destroyed forever.
8 But, Lord, you will be honored forever.
9 Lord, surely your enemies,
surely your enemies will be destroyed.
All who do evil will be scattered.
10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox.
You have poured fine oils on me.
11 When I looked, I saw my enemies.
I heard the cries of those who are against me.
12 But good people will grow like palm trees.
They will be tall like the cedar trees of Lebanon.
13 They will be like trees planted in the courtyards of the Lord.
They will grow strong in the courtyards of our God.
14 When they are old, they will still produce fruit.
They will be healthy and fresh.
15 They will say that the Lord is good.
He is my Rock, and there is no wrong in him.
The Majesty of God
93 The Lord is king. He is clothed with majesty.
The Lord is clothed in majesty
and armed with strength.
The world is set,
and it cannot be moved.
2 Lord, your kingdom was set up long ago.
You are everlasting.
3 Lord, the seas rise up.
The seas raise their voice.
The seas lift up their pounding waves.
4 The sound of the water is loud.
The ocean waves are powerful.
But the Lord above is much greater.
5 Lord, your laws will stand forever.
Your Temple will be holy forevermore.
Hezekiah Asks God to Help
37 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes. And he put on rough cloth to show how sad he was. Then he went into the Temple of the Lord. 2 Hezekiah sent Eliakim, Shebna and the older priests to Isaiah. Eliakim was the palace manager, and Shebna was the royal assistant. The men were all wearing the rough cloth when they came to Isaiah. He was a prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 These men told Isaiah, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of sorrow and punishment and disgrace. It is sad, as when a child should be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it. 4 The king of Assyria sent his field commander to make fun of the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear what the commander said. Maybe the Lord your God will punish him for what he said. So pray for the few people of Israel who are left alive.”
5 When Hezekiah’s officers came to Isaiah, 6 he said to them, “Tell your master this: The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid of what you have heard. Don’t be frightened by the words the servants of the king of Assyria said against me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a report that will make him return to his own country. And I will cause him to die by the sword there.’”
8 The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. So the commander left and found the king fighting against the city of Libnah.
9 The king received a report that Tirhakah was coming to attack him. Tirhakah was the Cushite king of Egypt. When the king of Assyria heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah. The king said: 10 “Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: Don’t be fooled by the god you trust. Don’t believe him when he says Jerusalem will not be defeated by the king of Assyria. 11 You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done. They have completely defeated every country. Do not think you will be saved. 12 The gods of those people did not save them. My ancestors destroyed them. My ancestors defeated the cities of Gozan, Haran and Rezeph. They defeated the people of Eden living in Tel Assar. 13 Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad? Where is the king of the city of Sepharvaim? Where are the kings of Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah Prays to the Lord
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Temple of the Lord. Hezekiah spread the letter out before the Lord. 15 And he prayed to the Lord: 16 “Lord of heaven’s armies, you are the God of Israel. Your throne is between the gold creatures with wings. Only you are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 17 Hear, Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to all the words Sennacherib has said to insult the living God.
18 “It is true, Lord. The kings of Assyria have destroyed all these countries and their lands. 19 These kings have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire. But they were only wood and rock statues that men made. So the kings have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from the king’s power. Then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
God Answers Hezekiah
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah. Isaiah said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘You prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria. 22 So this is what the Lord has said against Sennacherib:
The people of Jerusalem
hate you and make fun of you.
The people of Jerusalem
laugh at you as you run away.
23 You have insulted me and spoken against me.
You have raised your voice against me.
You have a proud look on your face.
You disobey me, the Holy One of Israel!
24 You have used your messengers to insult the Lord.
You have said, “I have many chariots.
With them I have gone to the tops of the mountains.
I have climbed the highest mountains of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars.
I have cut down its best pine trees.
I have gone to its greatest heights.
I have gone to its best forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign countries.
I have drunk water there.
By the soles of my feet,
I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”
26 “‘King of Assyria, surely you have heard.
Long ago I, the Lord, planned these things.
Long ago I planned them.
Now I have made them happen.
I allowed you to turn those strong, walled cities
into piles of rocks.
27 The people living in those cities were weak.
They were frightened and put to shame.
They were like grass in the field.
They were like tender, young grass.
They were like grass that grows on the housetop.
It is burned by the wind before it can grow.
28 “‘I know when you rest and when you come and go.
I know how you speak against me.
29 You speak strongly against me.
And I have heard your proud words.
So I will put my hook in your nose.
And I will put my bit in your mouth.
Then I will force you to leave my country
the same way that you came.’
30 “Then the Lord said, ‘Hezekiah, I will give you this sign:
This year you will eat the grain that grows wild.
And the second year you will eat what grows wild from that.
But in the third year, plant grain and harvest it.
Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 The people left alive in the family of Judah
will be saved.
Like plants that take root,
they will grow strong and have many children.
32 A few people will come out of Jerusalem alive.
There will be a few from Mount Zion who will live.
The strong love of the Lord of heaven’s armies
will cause this to happen.’
33 “So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city.
He will not even shoot an arrow here.
He will not fight against it with shields.
He will not build a ramp to attack the city walls.
34 He will return to his country the same way he came.
He will not enter this city,’
says the Lord.
35 The Lord says, ‘I will defend and save this city.
I will do this for myself and for David, my servant.’”
36 Then the angel of the Lord went out. He killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria left. He went back to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 One day Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch. While he was there, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.
The 144,000 People of Israel
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth. They were stopping the wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming from the east. This angel had the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels. These were the four angels that God had given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said to the four angels, 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees before we put the sign on the people who serve our God. We must put the sign on their foreheads.” 4 Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were marked with the sign,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Crowd
9 Then I looked, and there was a great number of people. There were so many people that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 The elders[a] and the four living things were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They were saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”
And the elder said, “These are the people who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[b] with the blood of the Lamb. Now they are clean and white. 15 And they are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the One who sits on the throne will protect them. 16 Those people will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.