M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Cities of Safety
19 When the Lord your God gives you land that belongs to the other nations, nations that he will destroy, you will force them out and live in their cities and houses. 2 Then choose three cities in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own. 3 Build roads to these cities, and divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts so that someone who kills another person may run to these cities.
4 This is the rule for someone who kills another person and runs to one of these cities in order to save his life. But the person must have killed a neighbor without meaning to, not out of hatred. 5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood and swings an ax to cut down a tree. If the ax head flies off the handle, hitting and killing the neighbor, the one who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life. 6 Otherwise, the dead person’s relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. If the city is far away, the relative might catch and kill the person, even though he should not be killed because there was no intent to kill his neighbor. 7 This is why I command you to choose these three cities.
8-9 Carefully obey all these laws I’m giving you today. Love the Lord your God, and always do what he wants you to do. Then the Lord your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors, giving you the whole land he promised to them. After that, choose three more cities of safety 10 so that innocent people will not be killed in your land, the land that the Lord your God is giving you as your own. By doing this you will not be guilty of allowing the death of innocent people.
11 But if a person hates his neighbor and, after hiding and waiting, attacks and kills him and then runs to one of these cities for safety, 12 the elders of his own city should send for the murderer. They should bring the person back from the city of safety and hand him over to the relative who has the duty of punishing the murderer. 13 Show no mercy. You must remove from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people so that things will go well for you.
14 Do not move the stone that marks the border of your neighbor’s land, which people long ago set in place. It marks what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.
Rules About Witnesses
15 One witness is not enough to accuse a person of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.
16 If a witness lies and accuses a person of a crime, 17 the two people who are arguing must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges who are on duty. 18 The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness who is a liar, lying about a fellow Israelite, 19 must be punished. He must be punished in the same way the other person would have been punished. You must get rid of the evil among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid, and no one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. 21 Show no mercy. A life must be paid for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.
Israel’s Failure to Trust God
106 Praise the Lord!
Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 No one can tell all the mighty things the Lord has done;
no one can speak all his praise.
3 Happy are those who do right,
who do what is fair at all times.
4 Lord, remember me when you are kind to your people;
help me when you save them.
5 Let me see the good things you do for your chosen people.
Let me be happy along with your happy nation;
let me join your own people in praising you.
6 We have sinned just as our ancestors did.
We have done wrong; we have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
did not learn from your miracles.
They did not remember all your kindnesses,
so they turned against you at the Red Sea.
8 But the Lord saved them for his own sake,
to show his great power.
9 He commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through the deep sea as if it were a desert.
10 He saved them from those who hated them.
He saved them from their enemies,
11 and the water covered their foes.
Not one of them escaped.
12 Then the people believed what the Lord said,
and they sang praises to him.
13 But they quickly forgot what he had done;
they did not wait for his advice.
14 They became greedy for food in the desert,
and they tested God there.
15 So he gave them what they wanted,
but he also sent a terrible disease among them.
16 The people in the camp were jealous of Moses
and of Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
17 Then the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan
and closed over Abiram’s group.
18 A fire burned among their followers,
and flames burned up the wicked.
19 The people made a gold calf at Mount Sinai
and worshiped a metal statue.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
for a statue of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 who had done miracles in Egypt[a]
and amazing things by the Red Sea.
23 So God said he would destroy them.
But Moses, his chosen one, stood before him
and stopped God’s anger from destroying them.
24 Then they refused to go into the beautiful land of Canaan;
they did not believe what God promised.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them
that they would die in the desert.
27 He said their children would be killed by other nations
and that they would be scattered among other countries.
28 They joined in worshiping Baal at Peor
and ate meat that had been sacrificed to lifeless statues.
29 They made the Lord angry by what they did,
so many people became sick with a terrible disease.
30 But Phinehas prayed to the Lord,
and the disease stopped.
31 Phinehas did what was right,
and it will be remembered from now on.
32 The people also made the Lord angry at Meribah,
and Moses was in trouble because of them.
33 The people turned against the Spirit of God,
so Moses spoke without stopping to think.
34 The people did not destroy the other nations
as the Lord had told them to do.
35 Instead, they mixed with the other nations
and learned their customs.
36 They worshiped other nations’ idols
and were trapped by them.
37 They even killed their sons and daughters
as sacrifices to demons.
38 They killed innocent people,
their own sons and daughters,
as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.
So the land was made unholy by their blood.
39 The people became unholy by their sins;
they were unfaithful to God in what they did.
40 So the Lord became angry with his people
and hated his own children.
41 He handed them over to other nations
and let their enemies rule over them.
42 Their enemies were cruel to them
and kept them under their power.
43 The Lord saved his people many times,
but they continued to turn against him.
So they became even more wicked.
44 But God saw their misery
when he heard their cry.
45 He remembered his agreement with them,
and he felt sorry for them because of his great love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by those who held them captive.
47 Lord our God, save us
and bring us back from other nations.
Then we will thank you
and will gladly praise you.
48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He always was and always will be.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
False Gods Are Useless
46 Bel and Nebo bow down.
Their idols are carried by animals.
The statues are only heavy loads that must be carried;
they only make people tired.
2 These gods will all bow down.
They cannot save themselves
but will all be carried away like prisoners.
3 “Family of Jacob, listen to me!
All you people from Israel who are still alive, listen!
I have carried you since you were born;
I have taken care of you from your birth.
4 Even when you are old, I will be the same.
Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you.
I made you and will take care of you.
I will carry you and save you.
5 “Can you compare me to anyone?
No one is equal to me or like me.
6 Some people are rich with gold
and weigh their silver on the scales.
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god.
Then they bow down and worship it.
7 They put it on their shoulders and carry it.
They set it in its place, and there it stands;
it cannot move from its place.
People may yell at it, but it cannot answer.
It cannot save them from their troubles.
8 “Remember this, and do not forget it!
Think about these things, you who turn against God.
9 Remember what happened long ago.
Remember that I am God, and there is no other God.
I am God, and there is no one like me.
10 From the beginning I told you what would happen in the end.
A long time ago I told you things that have not yet happened.
When I plan something, it happens.
What I want to do, I will do.
11 I am calling a man from the east to carry out my plan;
he will come like a hawk from a country far away.
I will make what I have said come true;
I will do what I have planned.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn people,
who are far from what is right.
13 I will soon do the things that are right.
I will bring salvation soon.
I will save Jerusalem
and bring glory to Israel.”
The Bowls of God’s Anger
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s anger on the earth.”
2 The first angel left and poured out his bowl on the land. Then ugly and painful sores came upon all those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his idol.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel of the waters saying:
“Holy One, you are the One who is and who was.
You are right to decide to punish these evil people.
6 They have poured out the blood of your holy people and your prophets.
So now you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
7 And I heard a voice coming from the altar saying:
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
the way you punish evil people is right and fair.”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and he was given power to burn the people with fire. 9 They were burned by the great heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these disasters. But the people refused to change their hearts and lives and give glory to God.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and darkness covered its kingdom. People gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They also cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and the sores they had, but they refused to change their hearts and turn away from the evil things they did.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates so that the water in the river was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east to come. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These evil spirits are the spirits of demons, which have power to do miracles. They go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Listen! I will come as a thief comes! Blessed are those who stay awake and keep their clothes on so that they will not walk around naked and have people see their shame.”
16 Then the evil spirits gathered the kings together to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. Then a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is finished!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, and a big earthquake—the worst earthquake that has ever happened since people have been on earth. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations were destroyed. And God remembered the sins of Babylon the Great, so he gave that city the cup filled with the wine of his terrible anger. 20 Then every island ran away, and mountains disappeared. 21 Giant hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell from the sky upon people. People cursed God for the disaster of the hail, because this disaster was so terrible.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.