M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses Reminds Israel to Be Loyal to the Lord
4 Israel, listen to the laws and rules I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you will live and be able to enter and take possession of the land that Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors is giving you. 2 Never add anything to what I command you, or take anything away from it. Then you will be able to obey the commands of Yahweh your Elohim that I give you.
3 With your own eyes you saw what Yahweh did at Baal Peor. Yahweh your Elohim destroyed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal while you were at Peor. 4 But you were loyal to Yahweh your Elohim and are still alive today.
5 I have taught you laws and rules as Yahweh my Elohim commanded me. You must obey them when you’ve entered the land and taken possession of it. 6 Faithfully obey these laws. This will show the people of the world your wisdom and insight. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, “What wise and insightful people there are in this great nation!”
7 What great nation ever had their gods as near to them as Yahweh our Elohim is near to us whenever we pray to him? 8 Or what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as all these teachings I am giving you today?
9 However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you don’t forget the things which you have seen with your own eyes. Don’t let them fade from your memory as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. 10 Never forget the day you stood in front of Yahweh your Elohim at Mount Horeb. Yahweh had said to me, “Assemble the people in front of me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on earth, and they will teach their children the same thing.”
11 So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, which was on fire with flames shooting into the sky. It was dark, cloudy, and gloomy. 12 Yahweh spoke to you from the fire. You heard a voice speaking but saw no one. There was only a voice. 13 Yahweh told you about the terms of his promise, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to do. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 Yahweh also commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey after you cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land.
15 You didn’t see Yahweh the day he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb. So be very careful 16 that you don’t become corrupt and make your own carved idols. Don’t make statues that represent men or women, 17 any animal on earth, any creature with wings that flies, 18 any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water. 19 Don’t let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. Yahweh your Elohim has given them to all people everywhere. 20 But you are the people Yahweh brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.
21 Yahweh was angry with me because of you. So Yahweh your Elohim took an oath that I wouldn’t cross the Jordan River and enter the good land he is giving you as your property. 22 I’m going to die in this land and not cross the Jordan River, but you’re going to go across and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful that you don’t forget the promise[a] that Yahweh your Elohim made to you. Don’t make your own carved idols or statues that represent anything Yahweh your Elohim has forbidden. 24 Yahweh your Elohim is Esh Oklah, El Kanna.
25 Even when you have children and grandchildren and have grown old in that land, don’t become corrupt and make carved idols or statues that represent anything. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today:[b] If you do this thing that Yahweh your Elohim considers evil, making him furious, 26 you will quickly disappear from the land you’re going to possess on the other side of the Jordan River. You won’t live very long there. You’ll be completely wiped out. 27 Yahweh will scatter you among the people of the world, and only a few of you will be left among the nations where Yahweh will force you to live. 28 There you will worship wooden and stone gods made by human hands. These gods can’t see, hear, eat, or smell.
29 But if you look for Yahweh your Elohim when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you’re in distress and all these things happen to you, then you will finally come back to Yahweh your Elohim and obey him. 31 Yahweh your Elohim is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.
32 Search the distant past, long before your time. Start from the very day Elohim created people on earth. Search from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened before, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Have any other people ever heard Elohim speak from a fire and lived? You did! 34 Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? Yahweh your Elohim used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you.
35 You were shown these things so that you would know that Yahweh is Elohim. There is no other god. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power. 38 He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.
39 Remember today, and never forget that Yahweh is Elohim in heaven above and here on earth. There is no other god. 40 Obey his laws and commands which I’m giving you today. Then things will go well for you and your descendants. You will live for a long time in the land. Yahweh your Elohim is giving you the land for as long as you live.
Three Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan River
41 Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River. 42 Those who unintentionally killed someone whom they had never hated could flee to one of these cities and save their lives. 43 The cities were Bezer on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
Introduction to Moses’ Teachings
44 This is what Moses taught the people of Israel. 45 These are the commandments, laws, and rules Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt. 46 He gave these to the people when they were east of the Jordan River in the valley near Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses and Israel defeated him after they left Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were east of the Jordan River. 48 This land went from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Siyon (that is, Mount Hermon). 49 It included all the plains on the east side of the Jordan River as far as the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
Psalm 86
A prayer by David.
1 Turn your ear toward me, O Yahweh.
Answer me, because I am oppressed and needy.
2 Protect me, because I am faithful to you.
Save your servant who trusts you. You are my Elohim.
3 Have pity on me, O Adonay,
because I call out to you all day long.
4 Give me joy, O Adonay,
because I lift my soul to you.
5 You, O Adonay, are good and forgiving,
full of mercy toward everyone who calls out to you.
6 Open your ears to my prayer, O Yahweh.
Pay attention when I plead for mercy.
7 When I am in trouble, I call out to you
because you answer me.
8 No god is like you, O Adonay.
No one can do what you do.
9 All the nations that you have made
will bow in your presence, O Adonay.
They will honor you.
10 Indeed, you are great, a worker of miracles.
You alone are Elohim.
11 Teach me your way, O Yahweh,
so that I may live in your truth.
Focus my heart on fearing you.
12 I will give thanks to you with all my heart, O Adonay my Elohim.
I will honor you forever
13 because your mercy toward me is great.
You have rescued me from the depths of hell.
14 O Elohim, arrogant people attack me,
and a mob of ruthless people seeks my life.
They think nothing of you.
15 But you, O Adonay, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.
16 Turn toward me, and have pity on me.
Give me your strength because I am your servant.
Save me because I am the son of your female servant.
17 Grant me some proof of your goodness
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.
You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Psalm 87
By Korah’s descendants; a psalm; a song.
1 The city Yahweh has founded stands on holy mountains.
2 Yahweh loves the city of Zion
more than any other place in Jacob.
3 Glorious things are said about you, O city of Elohim! Selah
4 The Lord says, “I will add Egypt and Babylon
as well as Philistia, Tyre, and Sudan
to the list of those who acknowledge me.
Each nation will claim that it was born there.”
5 But it will be said of Zion,
“Every race is born in it.
Elyon will make it secure.”
6 Yahweh will record this in the Book of Nations:
“Every race claims that it was born there.” Selah
7 Singers and dancers will sing,
“Zion is the source of all our blessings.”
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit and Bring Peace
32 A king will rule with fairness,
and officials will rule with justice.
2 Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind
and a hiding place from the rain.
They will be like streams on parched ground
and the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
3 Then the vision of those who can see won’t be blurred,
and the ears of those who can hear will pay attention.
4 Then those who are reckless will begin to understand,
and those who stutter will speak quickly and clearly.
5 Godless fools will no longer be called nobles,
nor will scoundrels be considered gentlemen.
6 Godless fools speak foolishness,
and their minds plan evil
in order to do ungodly things.
They speak falsely about Yahweh.
They let people go hungry
and withhold water from thirsty people.
7 The tricks of scoundrels are evil.
They devise wicked plans in order to ruin poor people with lies,
even when needy people plead for justice.
8 But honorable people act honorably
and stand firm for what is honorable.
9 Get up, and listen to me, you pampered women.
Hear what I say, you overconfident daughters.
10 In a little less than a year
you overconfident women will tremble,
because the grape harvest will fail
and no fruit will be brought in from the fields.
11 Shudder, you pampered women.
Tremble, you overconfident women.
Take off your clothes, walk around naked,
and wear sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts as you mourn for the fields,
for the vines bearing grapes.
13 Mourn for my people’s land where thorns and briars will grow.
Mourn for all the happy homes in a joyful city.
14 Palaces will be deserted.
Noisy cities will be abandoned.
Fortresses and watchtowers will become permanent caves.
They will be a delight for wild donkeys and pastures for flocks
15 until the Ruach is poured on us from on high.
Then the wilderness will be turned into a fertile field,
and the fertile field will be considered a forest.
16 Then justice will live in the wilderness,
and righteousness will be at home in the fertile field.
17 Then an act of righteousness will bring about peace,
calm, and safety forever.
18 My people will live in a peaceful place,
in safe homes and quiet places of rest.
19 The forest will be flattened because of hail,
and the city will be completely leveled.
20 Blessed are those who plant beside every stream
and those who let oxen and donkeys roam freely.
A Letter to the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the messenger of the church in Ephesus, write:
The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lamp stands, says: 2 I know what you have done—how hard you have worked and how you have endured. I also know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not apostles. You have discovered that they are liars. 3 You have endured, suffered trouble because of my name, and have not grown weary. 4 However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone. 5 Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first. I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place if you don’t change. 6 But you have this in your favor—you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing. I also hate what they’re doing.
7 “Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life, which stands in the paradise of God, to everyone who wins the victory.
A Letter to the Church in Smyrna
8 “To the messenger of the church in Smyrna, write:
The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says: 9 I know how you are suffering, how poor you are—but you are rich. I also know that those who claim to be Jews slander you. They are the synagogue of Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. The devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. Your suffering will go on for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Everyone who wins the victory will never be hurt by the second death.
A Letter to the Church in Pergamum
12 “To the messenger of the church in Pergamum, write:
The one who holds the sharp two-edged sword says: 13 I know where you live. Satan’s throne is there. You hold on to my name and have not denied your belief in me, even in the days of Antipas. He was my faithful witness who was killed in your presence, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you: You have among you those who follow what Balaam taught Balak. Balak trapped the people of Israel by encouraging them to eat food sacrificed to idols and to sin sexually. 15 You also have some who follow what the Nicolaitans teach. 16 So return to me and change the way you think and act, or I will come to you quickly and wage war against them with the sword from my mouth.
17 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give some of the hidden manna to everyone who wins the victory. I will also give each person a white stone with a new name written on it, a name that is known only to the person who receives it.
A Letter to the Church in Thyatira
18 “To the messenger of the church in Thyatira, write:
The Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire and whose feet are like glowing bronze, says: 19 I know what you do. I know your love, faith, service, and endurance. I also know that what you are doing now is greater than what you did at first. 20 But I have something against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. She teaches and misleads my servants to sin sexually and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to turn to me and change the way she thinks and acts, but she refuses to turn away from her sexual sins. 22 Watch me! I’m going to throw her into a sickbed. Those who commit sexual sins with her will also suffer a lot, unless they turn away from what she is doing. 23 I will kill her children. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches hearts and minds. I will reward each of you for what you have done. 24 But the rest of you in Thyatira—all who don’t hold on to Jezebel’s teaching, who haven’t learned what are called the deep things of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come.
26 I have received authority from my Father.[a] I will give authority over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and continues to do what I want until the end. 27 Those people will rule the nations with iron scepters and shatter them like pottery. 28 I will also give them the morning star. 29 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.