M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Love the Lord
6 These are the commands, laws, and rules the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. Obey them after you enter the land and take possession of it. 2 As long as you live, you, your children, and your grandchildren must fear the Lord your God. All of you must obey all his laws and commands that I’m giving you, and you will live a long time. 3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to obey these laws. Then things will go well for you and your population will increase in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord God of your ancestors promised you.
4 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 Take to heart these words that I give you today. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you’re at home or away, when you lie down or get up. 8 ⌞Write them down, and⌟ tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands as a reminder. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 The Lord your God will bring you into the land and give it to you, as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This land will have large, prosperous cities that you didn’t build. 11 Your houses will be filled with all kinds of things that you didn’t put there. You will have cisterns that you didn’t dig and vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant. After you have eaten all that you want, 12 be careful that you don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 13 You must fear the Lord your God, serve him, and take your oaths only in his name. 14 Never worship any of the gods worshiped by the people around you. 15 If you do, the Lord your God will become very angry with you and will wipe you off the face of the earth, because the Lord your God, who is with you, is a God who does not tolerate rivals.
16 Never test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to obey the commands of the Lord your God and the regulations and laws he has given you. 18 Do what the Lord considers right and good. Then things will go well for you, and you will enter and take possession of that good land which the Lord promised to your ancestors with an oath. 19 You will see the Lord expel your enemies as he said he would.
20 In the future your children will ask you, “What do these regulations, laws, and rules which the Lord our God commanded you mean to you?” 21 Tell them, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord used his mighty hand to bring us out of there. 22 Right before our eyes the Lord did miraculous signs and amazing things that were spectacular but terrible for Egypt, Pharaoh, and his whole family. 23 The Lord led us out of there to bring us here and give us this land he promised to our ancestors with an oath. 24 The Lord our God commanded us to obey all these laws and to fear him. These laws are for our own good as long as we live so that he will preserve our lives. It’s still true today. 25 This is how we’ll have the Lord’s approval: If we faithfully obey all these laws in the presence of the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.”
A maskil by Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O Lord.
I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.
2 I said, “Your mercy will last forever.
Your faithfulness stands firm in the heavens.”
3 ⌞You said,⌟ “I have made a promise [a] to my chosen one.
I swore this oath to my servant David:
4 ‘I will make your dynasty continue forever.
I built your throne to last throughout every generation.’ ” Selah
5 O Lord, the heavens praise your miracles
and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 Who in the skies can compare with the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord?
7 God is terrifying in the council of the holy ones.
He is greater and more awe-inspiring than those who surround him.
8 O Lord God of Armies, who is like you?
Mighty Lord, even your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule the raging sea.
When its waves rise, you quiet them.
10 You crushed Rahab; [b] it was like a corpse.
With your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours.
The earth is also yours.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing your name joyfully.
13 Your arm is mighty.
Your hand is strong.
Your right hand is lifted high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne.
Mercy and truth stand in front of you.
15 Blessed are the people who know how to praise you.
They walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
16 They find joy in your name all day long.
They are joyful in your righteousness
17 because you are the glory of their strength.
By your favor you give us victory.
18 Our shield belongs to the Lord.
Our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once in a vision you said to your faithful ones:
“I set a boy above warriors.
I have raised up one chosen from the people.
20 I found my servant David.
I anointed him with my holy oil.
21 My hand is ready to help him.
My arm will also give him strength.
22 No enemy will take him by surprise.
No wicked person will mistreat him.
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him
and defeat those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and mercy will be with him,
and in my name he will be victorious.
25 I will put his ⌞left⌟ hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 Yes, I will make him the firstborn.
He will be the Most High to the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy will stay with him forever.
My promise to him is unbreakable.
29 I will make his dynasty endure forever
and his throne like the days of heaven.
30 “If his descendants abandon my teachings
and do not live by my rules,
31 if they violate my laws
and do not obey my commandments,
32 then with a rod I will punish their rebellion
and their crimes with beatings.
33 But I will not take my mercy away from him
or allow my truth to become a lie.
34 I will not dishonor my promise
or alter my own agreement.
35 On my holiness I have taken an oath once and for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will be in my presence like the sun.
37 Like the moon his throne will stand firm forever.
It will be like a faithful witness in heaven.”
38 But you have despised, rejected,
and become angry with your anointed one.
39 You have refused to recognize the promise to your servant
and have thrown his crown into the dirt.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and have laid his fortified cities in ruins.
41 (Everyone who passed by robbed him.
He has become the object of his neighbors’ scorn.)
42 You held the right hand of his enemies high
and made all of his adversaries rejoice.
43 You even took his sword out of his hand
and failed to support him in battle.
44 You put an end to his splendor
and hurled his throne to the ground.
45 You cut short the days of his youth
and covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your anger continue to burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is!
Have you created Adam’s descendants for no reason?
48 Can a mortal go on living and never see death?
Who can set himself free from the power of the grave? Selah
49 Where is the evidence of your mercy, Lord?
You swore an oath to David on ⌞the basis of⌟ your faithfulness.
50 Remember, O Lord,[c] how your servant [d] has been insulted.
Remember how I have carried in my heart ⌞the insults⌟ from so many people.
51 Your enemies insulted ⌞me⌟.
They insulted your Messiah [e] every step he took.
52 Thank the Lord forever.
Amen and amen!
The Fall of Edom Is a Glimpse of the Lord’s Judgment
34 Come close, you nations, and listen.
Pay attention, you people.
The earth, everyone in it,
the world, and everything on it will listen.
2 The Lord is angry with all the nations.
He is furious with all their armies.
He has claimed them for destruction.
He has handed them over to be slaughtered.
3 Their dead bodies will be thrown out.
A stench will rise from their corpses.
Mountains will be red with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will rot.
The heavens will be rolled up like a scroll.
The stars will fall
like leaves from a grapevine,
like green figs from a fig tree.
5 When my sword is covered ⌞with blood⌟ in the heavens,
it will fall on Edom
and on the people I’ve claimed for destruction.
6 The Lord’s sword is covered with blood.
It is covered with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
The Lord will receive a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a huge slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will be killed with them,
young bulls along with rams.
Their land will be drenched with blood.
Their dust will be covered with fat.
8 The Lord will have a day of vengeance,
a year of revenge in defense of Zion.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned to tar.
Its soil will be turned to burning sulfur.
Its land will become blazing tar.
10 They will not be extinguished day or night,
and smoke will always go up from them.
Edom will lie in ruins for generations.
No one will ever travel through it.
11 Pelicans and herons will take possession of the land.
Owls and crows will live there.
He will stretch the measuring line of chaos
and the plumb line of destruction over it.
12 There are no nobles to rule a kingdom.
All of its princes have disappeared.
13 Its palaces are covered with thorns.
Its fortresses have nettles and thistles.
It will become a home for jackals
and a place for ostriches.
14 Hyenas will meet with jackals.
Male goats will call to their mates.
Screech owls will rest there
and find a resting place for themselves.
15 Owls will make their nests there, lay eggs, and hatch them.
They will gather their young
in the shadow of ⌞their wings⌟.
Vultures also will gather there,
each one with its mate.
16 Search the Lord’s book, and read it.
Not one of these animals will be missing.
Not one will lack a mate,
because the Lord has commanded it,
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He is the one who throws dice for them,
and his hand divides up ⌞the land⌟ for them with a measuring line.
They will possess it permanently
and live there for generations.
A Vision of God’s Throne in Heaven
4 After these things I saw a door standing open in heaven. I heard the first voice like a trumpet speaking to me. It said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”
2 Instantly, I came under the Spirit’s power. I saw a throne in heaven, and someone was sitting on it. 3 The one sitting there looked like gray quartz and red quartz. There was a rainbow around the throne which looked like an emerald.
4 Around that throne were 24 other thrones, and on these thrones sat 24 leaders wearing white clothes. They had gold crowns on their heads. 5 Lightning, noise, and thunder came from the throne. Seven flaming torches were burning in front of the throne. These are the seven spirits of God.
6 In front of the throne, there was something like a sea of glass as clear as crystal. In the center near the throne and around the throne were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like a young bull, the third had a face like a human, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and were covered with eyes, inside and out. Without stopping day or night they were singing,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is coming.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, to the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the 24 leaders bow in front of the one who sits on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They place their crowns in front of the throne and say,
11 “Our Lord and God, you deserve to receive glory, honor, and power
because you created everything.
Everything came into existence and was created because of your will.”
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