M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Ten Commandments
5 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said: Listen, Israel, to the commands and laws I am giving you today. Learn them and obey them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made an Agreement with us at Mount Sinai. 3 He did not make this Agreement with our ancestors, but he made it with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between you and the Lord in order to tell you what the Lord said; you were afraid of the fire, so you would not go up on the mountain.) The Lord said:
6 “I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.
7 “You must not have any other gods except me.
8 “You must not make for yourselves any idols or anything to worship that looks like something in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. 9 You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. If people sin against me and hate me, I will punish their children, even their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 10 But I will be very kind for a thousand lifetimes to those who love me and obey my commands.
11 “You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly, because the Lord will punish anyone who uses his name in this way.
12 “Keep the Sabbath as a holy day, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You may work and get everything done during six days each week, 14 but the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, your male or female slaves, your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, or the foreigners living in your cities. That way your servants may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by his great power and strength. So the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.
16 “Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live a long time, and things will go well for you in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you.
17 “You must not murder anyone.
18 “You must not be guilty of adultery.
19 “You must not steal.
20 “You must not tell lies about your neighbor.
21 “You must not want to take your neighbor’s wife. You must not want to take your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female slaves, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
22 The Lord spoke these commands to all of you on the mountain in a loud voice out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness; he did not say anything else. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets, and he gave them to me.
23 When you heard the voice from the darkness, as the mountain was blazing with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. 24 And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks to him. 25 But now, we will die! This great fire will burn us up, and we will die if we hear the Lord our God speak anymore. 26 No human being has ever heard the living God speaking from a fire and still lived, but we have. 27 Moses, you go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you tell us what the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and obey.”
28 The Lord heard what you said to me, and he said to me, “I have heard what the people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 I wish their hearts would always respect me and that they would always obey my commands so that things would go well for them and their children forever!
30 “Go and tell the people to return to their tents, 31 but you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, rules, and laws that you must teach the people to obey in the land I am giving them as their own.”
32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you, and follow the commands exactly. 33 Live the way the Lord your God has commanded you so that you may live and have what is good and have a long life in the land you will take.
A Sad Complaint
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the director of music. By the mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 Lord, you are the God who saves me.
I cry out to you day and night.
2 Receive my prayer,
and listen to my cry.
3 My life is full of troubles,
and I am nearly dead.
4 They think I am on the way to my grave.
I am like a man with no strength.
5 I have been left as dead,
like a body lying in a grave
whom you don’t remember anymore,
cut off from your care.
6 You have brought me close to death;
I am almost in the dark place of the dead.
7 You have been very angry with me;
all your waves crush me. Selah
8 You have taken my friends away from me
and have made them hate me.
I am trapped and cannot escape.
9 My eyes are weak from crying.
Lord, I have prayed to you every day;
I have lifted my hands in prayer to you.
10 Do you show your miracles for the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you? Selah
11 Will your love be told in the grave?
Will your loyalty be told in the place of death?
12 Will your miracles be known in the dark grave?
Will your goodness be known in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But, Lord, I have called out to you for help;
every morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide from me?
15 I have been weak and dying since I was young.
I suffer from your terrors, and I am helpless.
16 You have been angry with me,
and your terrors have destroyed me.
17 They surround me daily like a flood;
they are all around me.
18 You have taken away my loved ones and friends.
Darkness is my only friend.
Warnings to Assyria and Promises to God’s People
33 How terrible it will be for you who destroy others
but have not been destroyed yet.
How terrible it will be for you, traitor,
whom no one has turned against yet.
When you stop destroying,
others will destroy you.
When you stop turning against others,
they will turn against you.
2 Lord, be kind to us.
We have waited for your help.
Give us strength every morning.
Save us when we are in trouble.
3 Your powerful voice makes people run away in fear;
your greatness causes the nations to run away.
4 Like locusts, your enemies will take away the things you stole in war.
Like locusts rushing about, they will take your wealth.
5 The Lord is very great, and he lives in a high place.
He fills Jerusalem with fairness and justice.
6 He will be your safety.
He is full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
Respect for the Lord is the greatest treasure.
7 See, brave people are crying out in the streets;
those who tried to bring peace are weeping loudly.
8 There is no one on the roads,
no one walking in the paths.
People have broken the agreements they made.
They refuse to believe the proof from witnesses.
No one respects other people.
9 The land is sick and dying;
Lebanon is ashamed and dying.
The Plain of Sharon is dry like the desert,
and the trees of Bashan and Carmel are dying.
10 The Lord says, “Now, I will stand up
and show my greatness.
Now, I will become important to the people.
11 You people do useless things
that are like hay and straw.
A destructive wind will burn you like fire.
12 People will be burned until their bones become like lime;
they will burn quickly like dry thornbushes.”
13 You people in faraway lands, hear what I have done.
You people who are near me, learn about my power.
14 The sinners in Jerusalem are afraid;
those who are separated from God shake with fear.
They say, “Can any of us live through this fire that destroys?
Who can live near this fire that burns on and on?”
15 A person who does what is right
and speaks what is right,
who refuses to take money unfairly,
who refuses to take money to hurt others,
who does not listen to plans of murder,
who refuses to think about evil—
16 this is the kind of person who will be safe.
He will be protected as he would be in a high, walled city.
He will always have bread,
and he will not run out of water.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty.
You will see the land that stretches far away.
18 You will think about the terror of the past:
“Where is that officer?
Where is the one who collected the taxes?
Where is the officer in charge of our defense towers?”
19 No longer will you see those proud people from other countries,
whose strange language you couldn’t understand.
God Will Protect Jerusalem
20 Look at Jerusalem, the city of our festivals.
Look at Jerusalem, that beautiful place of rest.
It is like a tent that will never be moved;
the pegs that hold her in place will never be pulled up,
and her ropes will never be broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty One.
That land is a place with streams and wide rivers,
but there will be no enemy boats on those rivers;
no powerful ship will sail on them.
22 This is because the Lord is our judge.
The Lord makes our laws.
The Lord is our king.
He will save us.
23 You sailors from other lands, hear:
The ropes on your boats hang loose.
The mast is not held firm.
The sails are not spread open.
Then your great wealth will be divided.
There will be so much wealth that even the crippled people will carry off a share.
24 No one living in Jerusalem will say, “I am sick.”
The people who live there will have their sins forgiven.
To the Church in Sardis
3 “Write this to the angel of the church in Sardis:
“The One who has the seven spirits and the seven stars says this: I know what you do. People say that you are alive, but really you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what you have left before it dies completely. I have found that what you are doing is less than what my God wants. 3 So do not forget what you have received and heard. Obey it, and change your hearts and lives. So you must wake up, or I will come like a thief, and you will not know when I will come to you. 4 But you have a few there in Sardis who have kept their clothes unstained, so they will walk with me and will wear white clothes, because they are worthy. 5 Those who win the victory will be dressed in white clothes like them. And I will not erase their names from the book of life, but I will say they belong to me before my Father and before his angels. 6 Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “Write this to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:
“This is what the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David, says. When he opens a door, no one can close it. And when he closes it, no one can open it. 8 I know what you do. I have put an open door before you, which no one can close. I know you have little strength, but you have obeyed my teaching and were not afraid to speak my name. 9 Those in the synagogue that belongs to Satan say they are Jews, but they are not true Jews; they are liars. I will make them come before you and bow at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. 10 You have obeyed my teaching about not giving up your faith. So I will keep you from the time of trouble that will come to the whole world to test those who live on earth.
11 “I am coming soon. Continue strong in your faith so no one will take away your crown. 12 I will make those who win the victory pillars in the temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,[a] that comes down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on them my new name. 13 Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
“The Amen,[b] the faithful and true witness, the ruler of all God has made, says this: 15 I know what you do, that you are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! 16 But because you are lukewarm—neither hot, nor cold—I am ready to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich, and I have become wealthy and do not need anything.’ But you do not know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I advise you to buy from me gold made pure in fire so you can be truly rich. Buy from me white clothes so you can be clothed and so you can cover your shameful nakedness. Buy from me medicine to put on your eyes so you can truly see.
19 “I correct and punish those whom I love. So be eager to do right, and change your hearts and lives. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with me.
21 “Those who win the victory will sit with me on my throne in the same way that I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.