M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Levites’ Towns
35 The Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab across from Jericho by the Jordan River. He said, 2 “Command the Israelites to give the Levites cities to live in from the land they receive. Also give the Levites the pastureland around these cities. 3 Then the Levites will have cities where they may live and pastureland for their cattle, flocks, and other animals. 4 The pastureland you give the Levites will extend fifteen hundred feet from the city wall. 5 Also measure three thousand feet in each direction outside the city wall—three thousand feet east of the city, three thousand feet south of the city, three thousand feet west of the city, and three thousand feet north of the city, with the city in the center. This will be pastureland for the Levites’ cities.
Cities of Safety
6 “Six of the cities you give the Levites will be cities of safety. A person who accidentally kills someone may run to one of those cities for safety. You must also give forty-two other cities to the Levites; 7 give the Levites a total of forty-eight cities and their pastures. 8 The larger tribes of Israel must give more cities, and the smaller tribes must give fewer cities. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the Levites, but the number of cities they give will depend on the size of their land.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites these things: ‘When you cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan, 11 you must choose cities to be cities of safety, so that a person who accidentally kills someone may run to them for safety. 12 There the person will be safe from the dead person’s relative who has the duty of punishing the killer. He will not die before he receives a fair trial in court. 13 The six cities you give will be cities of safety. 14 Give three cities east of the Jordan River and three cities in Canaan as cities of safety. 15 These six cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel, as well as for foreigners and other people living with you. Any of these people who accidentally kills someone may run to one of these cities.
16 “‘Anyone who uses an iron weapon to kill someone is a murderer. He must be put to death. 17 Anyone who takes a rock and kills a person with it is a murderer. He must be put to death. 18 Anyone who picks up a piece of wood and kills someone with it is a murderer. He must be put to death. 19 A relative of the dead person must put the murderer to death; when they meet, the relative must kill the murderer. 20 A person might shove someone or throw something at someone and cause death. 21 Or a person might hit someone with his hand and cause death. If it were done from hate, the person is a murderer and must be put to death. A relative of the dead person must kill the murderer when they meet.
22 “‘But a person might suddenly shove someone, and not from hatred. Or a person might accidentally throw something and hit someone. 23 Or a person might drop a rock on someone he couldn’t see and kill that person. There was no plan to hurt anyone and no hatred for the one who was killed. 24 If that happens, the community must judge between the relative of the dead person and the killer, according to these rules. 25 They must protect the killer from the dead person’s relative, sending the killer back to the original city of safety, to stay there until the high priest dies (the high priest had the holy oil poured on him).
26 “‘Such a person must never go outside the limits of the city of safety. 27 If a relative of the dead person finds the killer outside the city, the relative may kill that person and not be guilty of murder. 28 The killer must stay in the city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, the killer may go home.
29 “‘These laws are for you from now on, wherever you live.
30 “‘If anyone kills a person, the murderer may be put to death only if there are witnesses. No one may be put to death with only one witness.
31 “‘Don’t take money to spare the life of a murderer who should be put to death. A murderer must be put to death.
32 “‘If someone has run to a city of safety, don’t take money to let the person go back home before the high priest dies.
33 “‘Don’t let murder spoil your land. The only way to remove the sin of killing an innocent person is for the murderer to be put to death. 34 I am the Lord, and I live among the Israelites. I live in that land with you, so do not spoil it with murder.’”
The Nation Cries for Jerusalem
A psalm of Asaph.
79 God, nations have come against your chosen people.
They have ruined your holy Temple.
They have turned Jerusalem into ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the wild birds.
They have given the bodies of those who worship you to the wild animals.
3 They have spilled blood like water all around Jerusalem.
No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a joke to the other nations;
they laugh and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will this last?
Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 Be angry with the nations that do not know you
and with the kingdoms that do not honor you.
7 They have gobbled up the people of Jacob
and destroyed their land.
8 Don’t punish us for our past sins.
Show your mercy to us soon,
because we are helpless!
9 God our Savior, help us
so people will praise you.
Save us and forgive our sins
so people will honor you.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Tell the other nations in our presence
that you punish those who kill your servants.
11 Hear the moans of the prisoners.
Use your great power
to save those sentenced to die.
12 Repay those around us seven times over
for their insults to you, Lord.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your flock.
We will thank you always;
forever and ever we will praise you.
27 At that time the Lord will punish Leviathan, the gliding snake.
He will punish Leviathan, the coiled snake,
with his great and hard and powerful sword.
He will kill the monster in the sea.
2 At that time
people will sing about the pleasant vineyard.
3 “I, the Lord, will care for that vineyard;
I will water it at the right time.
No one will hurt it,
because I will guard it day and night.
4 I am not angry.
If anyone builds a wall of thornbushes in war,
I will march to it and burn it.
5 But if anyone comes to me for safety
and wants to make peace with me,
he should come and make peace with me.”
6 In the days to come, the people of Jacob will be like a plant with good roots;
Israel will grow like a plant beginning to bloom.
Then the world will be filled with their children.
The Lord Will Send Israel Away
7 The Lord has not hurt his people as he hurt their enemies;
his people have not been killed like those who tried to kill them.
8 He will settle his argument with Israel by sending it far away.
Like a hot desert wind, he will drive it away.
9 This is how Israel’s guilt will be forgiven;
this is how its sins will be taken away:
Israel will crush the rocks of the altar to dust,
and no statues or altars will be left standing for the Asherah idols.
10 At that time the strong, walled city will be empty
like a desert.
Calves will eat grass there.
They will lie down there
and eat leaves from the branches.
11 The limbs will become dry and break off,
so women will use them for firewood.
The people refuse to understand,
so God will not comfort them;
their Maker will not be kind to them.
12 At that time the Lord will begin gathering his people one by one from the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt. He will separate them from others as grain is separated from chaff. 13 Many of my people are now lost in Assyria. Some have run away to Egypt. But at that time a great trumpet will be blown, and all those people will come and worship the Lord on that holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Faith in the Son of God
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is God’s child, and whoever loves the Father also loves the Father’s children. 2 This is how we know we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3 Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us, 4 because everyone who is a child of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world—our faith. 5 So the one who conquers the world is the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 Jesus Christ is the One who came by water[a] and blood.[b] He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit says that this is true, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 So there are three witnesses:[c] 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three witnesses agree. 9 We believe people when they say something is true. But what God says is more important, and he has told us the truth about his own Son. 10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has the truth that God told us. Anyone who does not believe makes God a liar, because that person does not believe what God told us about his Son. 11 This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
We Have Eternal Life Now
13 I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God so you will know you have eternal life. 14 And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. 15 If we know he hears us every time we ask him, we know we have what we ask from him.
16 If anyone sees a brother or sister sinning (sin that does not lead to eternal death), that person should pray, and God will give the sinner life. I am talking about people whose sin does not lead to eternal death. There is sin that leads to death. I do not mean that a person should pray about that sin. 17 Doing wrong is always sin, but there is sin that does not lead to eternal death.
18 We know that those who are God’s children do not continue to sin. The Son of God keeps them safe, and the Evil One cannot touch them. 19 We know that we belong to God, but the Evil One controls the whole world. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we can know the True One. And our lives are in the True One and in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the eternal life.
21 So, dear children, keep yourselves away from false gods.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.