M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
A Person Found Murdered
21 Someone might be found murdered. He might be lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And no one knows who killed him. 2 Your elders and judges should go to where he was found. And they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities. 3 The elders of the city nearest the body are responsible. They must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke. 4 And they must lead her down to a valley. It must never have been plowed or planted. It must have a stream flowing through it. There they must break the young cow’s neck. 5 The priests should come forward. They are the sons of Levi. They have been chosen by the Lord your God. They are to serve and give blessings in the Lord’s name. And they are to decide cases of quarreling and attacks. 6 Then all the elders of the city nearest the murdered man should wash their hands. They should do it over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 They should declare: “We did not kill this man. And we did not see it happen. 8 Lord, remove this sin of your people Israel. You have saved them. Don’t blame your people, the Israelites, for this innocent man’s murder.” And so the murder will be paid for. 9 Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.
Captive Women as Wives
10 You will go to war against your enemies. The Lord will help you defeat them. You will take them captive. 11 You might see a beautiful woman among the captives. And you might be attracted to her. You may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home. She must shave her head and cut her nails. 13 She must change out of the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. And she must live in your house and cry for her parents for a month. After that, you may marry her. You will be her husband, and she will be your wife. 14 But you might not be pleased with her. Then let her go anywhere she wants. You must not sell her for money. You must not make her a slave. You have taken away her honor.
The Oldest Son
15 A man may have two wives. He might love one wife but not the other. Both wives might have sons by him. But the older son might be the son of the wife he does not love. 16 Someday that man must will his property to his sons. But he must not give the son of the wife he loves what belongs to the older son. The older son is the son of the wife the man does not love. 17 He must agree to give the older son two shares of everything he owns. The older son is from the wife he does not love. That son was the first to prove his father could have children. So he has the rights that belong to the older son.
Sons Who Refuse to Obey
18 A man might have a son who is stubborn. The son turns against his father and mother and doesn’t obey them. He will not listen when they correct him. 19 His parents must take him to the elders at the city gate. 20 They will say to the leaders, “Our son is stubborn and turns against us. He will not obey us. He eats too much. And he is always drunk.” 21 Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you. All the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.
Other Laws
22 A man might be guilty of a sin worthy of death. He must be put to death and his body displayed on a tree. 23 But don’t leave his body hanging on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day. Anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.
A Prayer for Victory
A song of David.
108 God, my heart is right.
I will sing and praise you with all my being.
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
3 Lord, I will praise you among the nations.
I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations.
4 Your love is so great that it is higher than the skies.
Your truth reaches to the clouds.
5 God, you are supreme over the skies.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
7 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
9 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
12 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
13 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
A Prayer Against an Enemy
For the director of music. A song of David.
109 God, I praise you.
Do not be silent.
2 Wicked people and liars have spoken against me.
They have told lies about me.
3 They have said hateful things about me.
They attack me for no reason.
4 They attacked me, even though I loved them
and prayed for them.
5 I was good to them, but they repay me with evil.
I loved them, but they hate me in return.
6 They say about me, “Have the Evil One work against him.
Let the devil accuse him.
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty.
Let even his prayers show that he is guilty.
8 Let his life be cut short.
Let another man replace him as leader.
9 Let his children become orphans.
Let his wife become a widow.
10 Make his children wander around, begging for food.
Let them be forced out of the ruins they live in.
11 Let the people he owes money to take everything he owns.
Let strangers steal everything he has worked for.
12 Let no one show him love.
Let no one have mercy on his children.
13 Let all his descendants die.
Let him be forgotten by people who live after him.
14 Let the Lord remember how wicked his ancestors were.
Don’t let the sins of his mother be wiped out.
15 Let the Lord always remember their sins.
Then he will make people forget about them completely.
16 “He did not remember to be loving.
He hurt the poor, the needy and those who were sad
until they were nearly dead.
17 He loved to put curses on others.
So let those same curses fall on him.
He did not like to bless others.
So do not let good things happen to him.
18 He cursed others as often as he wore clothes.
Cursing others filled his body and his life,
like drinking water and using olive oil.
19 So let curses cover him like clothes.
Let them wrap around him like a belt.”
20 May the Lord do these things to those who accuse me,
to those who speak evil against me.
21 But you, Lord God,
be kind to me so others will know you are good.
Because your love is good, save me.
22 I am poor and helpless.
And I am very sad.
23 I am dying like an evening shadow.
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from hunger.
I have become thin.
25 My enemies insult me.
They look at me and shake their heads.
26 Lord my God, help me.
Because you are loving, save me.
27 Then they will know that you have saved me.
They will know it was your power, Lord.
28 They may curse me, but you bless me.
They may attack me, but they will be disgraced.
Then I, your servant, will be glad.
29 Let those who accuse me be disgraced.
Let them be covered with shame like a coat.
30 I will thank the Lord very much.
I will praise him in front of many people.
31 He defends the helpless.
He saved me from those who accuse me.
God Controls the Future
48 The Lord says, “Family of Jacob, listen to me.
You are called Israel.
You come from the family of Judah.
You use the Lord’s name to make promises.
You praise the God of Israel,
but you are not honest or sincere.
2 You call yourselves people of the holy city.
You depend on the God of Israel.
He is named the Lord of heaven’s armies.
3 Long ago I told you what would happen.
I said these things and made them known.
Suddenly I acted, and these things happened.
4 I did that because I knew you were stubborn.
Your neck was like an iron muscle.
It was as if your head were made of bronze.
5 So a long time ago I told you about these things.
I told you about them before they happened.
I did this so you couldn’t say, ‘My idols did this.
My wooden and metal statues made these things happen.’
6 “You heard and saw all the things that happened.
So you should tell this news to others.
Now I will tell you about new things.
These are hidden things that you don’t know yet.
7 These things are happening now, not long ago.
You have not heard about them before today.
So you cannot say, ‘We already knew about that.’
8 But you have not heard me. You have not understood.
Even long ago you did not listen to me.
I knew you would surely turn against me.
You have fought against me since you were born.
9 But for my own sake I will be patient.
People will praise me for not becoming angry
and destroying you.
10 I have made you pure, but not by fire, as silver is made pure.
I have purified you by giving you troubles.
11 I do this for myself, for my own sake.
I will not let people speak evil against me.
I will not let some false god take my glory.
Israel Will Be Free
12 “People of Jacob, listen to me.
People of Israel, I have called you to be my people.
I am God.
I am the beginning and the end.
13 I made the earth with my own hands.
With my right hand I spread out the skies.
When I call them,
they come together before me.
14 “All of you, come together and listen.
None of the false gods said these things would happen.
I, the Lord, have chosen someone
to attack the Babylonians.
He will carry out my wishes against Babylon.
15 I have spoken. I have called him.[a]
I have brought him, and I will make him successful.
16 Come to me and listen to this.
From the beginning I have spoken openly.
From the time it began, I was there.”
Now, the Lord God
has sent me with his Spirit.
17 The Lord is your close relative who saves you, the Holy One of Israel.
The Lord says,
“I am the Lord your God.
I teach you to do what is good.
I lead you in the way you should go.
18 If you had obeyed me,
you would have had peace like a full-flowing river.
Good things would have flowed to you like the waves of the sea.
19 You would have had many children.
They would have been as many as the grains of sand.
They would never have died out.
They would not have been destroyed.”
20 My people, leave Babylon!
Run from the Babylonians!
Tell this news with shouts of joy to the people.
Spread it everywhere on earth.
Say, “The Lord has saved
his servants, the people of Jacob.”
21 They did not become thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water flow from a rock for them.
He split the rock,
and water flowed out.
22 “There is no peace for evil people,” says the Lord.
Babylon Is Destroyed
18 Then I saw another angel coming down from heaven. This angel had great power. The angel’s glory made the earth bright. 2 The angel shouted in a powerful voice:
“The great city of Babylon is destroyed!
She has become a home for demons.
She has become a city for every evil spirit,
a city for every unclean and hated bird.
3 All the peoples of the earth have drunk
the strong wine of her sexual immorality.
The kings of the earth have sinned sexually with her,
and the businessmen of the world have grown rich from the great wealth of her luxury.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“Come out of that city, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins.
Then you will not receive the terrible things that will happen to her.
5 The city’s sins are piled up as high as the sky.
God has not forgotten the wrongs she has done.
6 Give that city the same as she gave to others.
Pay her back twice as much as she did.
Prepare wine for her that is twice as strong
as the wine she prepared for others.
7 She gave herself much glory and rich living.
Give her that much suffering and sadness.
She says to herself, ‘I am a queen sitting on my throne.
I am not a widow; I will never be sad.’
8 So these terrible things will come to her in one day:
death, crying, and great hunger.
She will be destroyed by fire,
because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.”
9 The kings of the earth who sinned sexually with her and shared her wealth will see the smoke from her burning. Then they will cry and weep because of her death. 10 They will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away. They will say:
“Terrible! How terrible, great city,
powerful city of Babylon!
Your punishment has come in one hour!”
11 And the businessmen of the earth will cry and weep for her. They will be sad because now there is no one to buy the things they sell. 12 They sell gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen cloth, purple cloth, silk, and red cloth. They sell all kinds of citron wood and all kinds of things made from ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble. 13 They also sell cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, and olive oil; fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages. They sell the bodies and souls of men.
14 They will say,
“Babylon, the good things you wanted are gone from you.
All your rich and fancy things have disappeared.
You will never have them again.”
15 The businessmen will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away from her. These are the men who became rich from selling those things to her. The men will cry and be sad. 16 They will say:
“Terrible! How terrible for the great city!
She was dressed in fine linen, purple and red cloth.
She was shining with gold, jewels, and pearls!
17 All these riches have been destroyed in one hour!”
Every sea captain, all those who travel on ships, the sailors, and all the people who earn money from the sea stood far away from Babylon. 18 They saw the smoke from her burning. They said loudly, “There was never a city like this great city!” 19 They threw dust on their heads and cried to show how sad they were. They said:
“Terrible! How terrible for the great city!
All the people who had ships on the sea
became rich because of her wealth!
But she has been destroyed in one hour!
20 Be happy because of this, heaven!
Be happy, God’s holy people and apostles and prophets!
God has punished her because of what she did to you.”
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a stone like a large stone for grinding grain. The angel threw the stone into the sea and said:
“That is how the great city of Babylon will be thrown down.
The city will never be found again.
22 The music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes and trumpets,
will never be heard in you again.
No workman doing any job
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of grinding grain
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voices of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your businessmen were the world’s great men.
All the nations were tricked by your magic.
24 She is guilty of the death
of the prophets and God’s holy people
and of all who have been killed on earth.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.