M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Warnings About Various Sins

20 The Lord said to Moses, ² “You must also tell the people of Israel these things: ‘If a person in your country gives one of his children to Molech, that person must be killed. It doesn’t matter if he is a citizen or a foreigner living in Israel; you must throw stones at him and kill him. ³ I will be against him and cut him off from his people, because he gave his children to Molech. He showed that he did not respect my holy name, and he made my Holy Place unclean. ⁴ The people of the community might ignore that person and not kill the one who gave his children to Molech. ⁵ But I will be against him and his family, and I will cut him off from his people. I will do this to anyone who follows him in being unfaithful to me by worshiping Molech.

⁶ “‘I will be against anyone who goes to mediums and fortune-tellers for advice, because that person is being unfaithful to me. So I will cut him off from his people.

⁷ “‘Be my holy people. Be holy because I am the Lord your God. ⁸ Remember and obey my laws. I am the Lord, and I have made you holy.

⁹ “‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother, so he has brought his own death on himself.

Punishments for Sexual Sins

¹⁰ “‘If a man has sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman are guilty of adultery and must be put to death. ¹¹ If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has shamed his father, and both the man and his father’s wife must be put to death. They have brought it on themselves.

¹² “‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is not natural. They have brought their own deaths on themselves.

¹³ “‘If a man has sexual relations with another man as a man does with a woman, these two men have done a hateful sin. They must be put to death. They have brought it on themselves.

¹⁴ “‘If a man has sexual relations with both a woman and her mother, this is evil. The people must burn that man and the two women in fire so that your people will not be evil.

¹⁵ “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death. You must also kill the animal. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches an animal and has sexual relations with it, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. They have brought it on themselves.

¹⁷ “‘It is shameful for a brother to marry his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and to have sexual relations with her. In front of everyone they must both be cut off from their people. The man has shamed his sister, and he is guilty of sin.

¹⁸ “‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, both the woman and the man must be cut off from their people. They sinned because they showed the source of her blood.

¹⁹ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, because that would shame a close relative. Both of you are guilty of this sin.

²⁰ “‘If a man has sexual relations with his uncle’s wife, he has shamed his uncle. That man and his uncle’s wife will die without children; they are guilty of sin.

²¹ “‘It is unclean for a man to marry his brother’s wife. That man has shamed his brother, and they will have no children.

²² “‘Remember all my laws and rules, and obey them. I am leading you to your own land, and if you obey my laws and rules, that land will not throw you out. ²³ I am forcing out ahead of you the people who live there. Because they did all these sins, I have hated them. Do not live the way those people lived.

²⁴ “‘I have told you that you will get their land, which I will give to you as your very own; it is a fertile land. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from other people and made you my own. ²⁵ So you must treat clean animals and birds differently from unclean animals and birds. Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these unclean birds or animals or things that crawl on the ground, which I have made unclean for you. ²⁶ So you must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from other people to be my own.

²⁷ “‘A man or woman who is a medium or a fortune-teller must be put to death. You must stone them to death; they have brought it on themselves.’”

A Prayer for God to Guide

Of David.

There Is a Time for Everything

God Controls His World

⁹ Do people really gain anything from their work? ¹⁰ I saw the hard work God has given people to do. ¹¹ God has given them a desire to know the future. He does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing. ¹² So I realize that the best thing for them is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. ¹³ God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their work, which are gifts from God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect him.

Unfairness on Earth

¹⁸ I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people and to show them they are just like animals. ¹⁹ The same thing happens to animals and to people; they both have the same breath, so they both die. People are no better off than the animals, because everything is useless. ²⁰ Both end up the same way; both came from dust and both will go back to dust. ²¹ Who can be sure that the human spirit goes up to God and that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? ²² So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy their work, because that is all they have. No one can help another person see what will happen in the future.

Rules for Living with Others

5 Do not speak angrily to an older man, but plead with him as if he were your father. Treat younger men like brothers, ² older women like mothers, and younger women like sisters. Always treat them in a pure way.

³ Take care of widows who are truly widows. ⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to do their duty to their own family and to repay their parents or grandparents. That pleases God. ⁵ The true widow, who is all alone, puts her hope in God and continues to pray night and day for God’s help. ⁶ But the widow who uses her life to please herself is really dead while she is alive. ⁷ Tell the believers to do these things so that no one can criticize them. ⁸ Whoever does not care for his own relatives, especially his own family members, has turned against the faith and is worse than someone who does not believe in God.

⁹ To be on the list of widows, a woman must be at least sixty years old. She must have been faithful to her husband. ¹⁰ She must be known for her good works—works such as raising her children, welcoming strangers, washing the feet of God’s people, helping those in trouble, and giving her life to do all kinds of good deeds.

¹¹ But do not put younger widows on that list. After they give themselves to Christ, they are pulled away from him by their physical desires, and then they want to marry again. ¹² They will be judged for not doing what they first promised to do. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to waste their time, going from house to house. And they not only waste their time but also begin to gossip and busy themselves with other people’s lives, saying things they should not say. ¹⁴ So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their homes. Then no enemy will have any reason to criticize them. ¹⁵ But some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶ If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should care for them herself. The church should not have to care for them. Then it will be able to take care of those who are truly widows.

¹⁷ The elders who lead the church well should receive double honor, especially those who work hard by speaking and teaching, ¹⁸ because the Scripture says: “When an ox is working in the grain, do not cover its mouth to keep it from eating,”^[a] and “A worker should be given his pay.”^[b]

¹⁹ Do not listen to someone who accuses an elder, without two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Tell those who continue sinning that they are wrong. Do this in front of the whole church so that the others will have a warning.

²¹ Before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels, I command you to do these things without showing favor of any kind to anyone.

²² Think carefully before you lay your hands on^[c] anyone, and don’t share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³ Stop drinking only water, but drink a little wine to help your stomach and your frequent sicknesses.

²⁴ The sins of some people are easy to see even before they are judged, but the sins of others are seen only later. ²⁵ So also good deeds are easy to see, but even those that are not easily seen cannot stay hidden.