M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
When a Murder Is Committed, but the Murderer Can’t Be Found
21 This is what you must do if you find a murder victim lying in a field in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you. If no one knows who committed the murder, 2 your leaders and judges must go and measure the distance from the body to each of the neighboring cities. 3 When it has been determined which city is nearest the body, the leaders from that city must choose a heifer that has never been put to work and never worn a yoke.[a] 4 The leaders of that city will bring the heifer down to a river, to a location where the land hasn’t been plowed or planted. At the river they must break the heifer’s neck. 5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, must come forward. Yahweh your Elohim has chosen them to serve him as priests and to bless people in Yahweh’s name. Their decision is final in all cases involving a disagreement or an assault. 6 All the leaders from the city which was nearest the murder victim must wash their hands over the dead heifer. 7 Then they must make this formal statement: “We didn’t commit this murder, and we didn’t witness it. 8 Yahweh, make peace with your people Israel, whom you freed. Don’t let the guilt of this unsolved murder remain among your people Israel.” Then there will be peace with the Lord despite the murder. 9 This is how you will get rid of the guilt of an unsolved murder by doing what Yahweh considers right.
Laws about Marriage and Family
10 When you go to war with your enemies and Yahweh your Elohim hands them over to you, you may take them captive. 11 If you see a beautiful woman among the captives and have your heart set on her, you may marry her. 12 Bring her into your home. She must shave her head, cut her nails, 13 and no longer wear the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. Then she may live in your house and mourn the loss of her father and mother for one month. After that, you may sleep with her. Then you will become husband and wife.
14 But if it happens that you are no longer pleased with her, let her go wherever she wants. You must never sell her or mistreat her as if she were a slave,[b] since you’ve already had sex with her.
15 A man might have two wives and love one but not the other. Both wives might have children, and the firstborn son might belong to the wife that the man doesn’t love. 16 When the day comes for the father to give his sons their inheritance, he can’t treat the son of the wife he loves as if that son were the firstborn. This would show a total disregard for the real firstborn (the son of the wife he doesn’t love). 17 Instead, he must recognize the son of the wife he doesn’t love as the firstborn. He must give that son a double portion of whatever he owns. That son is the very first son he had. The rights of the firstborn son are his.
18 Parents might have a stubborn and rebellious son who doesn’t obey them. Even though they punish him, he still won’t listen to them. 19 His father and mother must take him to the leaders of the city at the city gate. 20 They will say to the leaders of the city, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He won’t obey us. He eats too much and is a drunk.” 21 All the men of the city should stone him to death. You must get rid of this evil. When all Israel hears about it, they will be afraid.
Various Laws
22 When a convicted person is put to death, 23 never leave his dead body hung on a pole overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is hung on a pole is cursed by Elohim. The land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you must never become unclean.[c]
Psalm 108[a]
A song; a psalm by David.
1 My heart is confident, O Elohim.
I want to sing and make music even with my soul.[b]
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I want to wake up at dawn.
3 I want to give thanks to you among the people, O Yahweh.
I want to make music to praise you among the nations
4 because your mercy is higher than the heavens.
Your truth reaches the skies.
5 May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.
6 Save us with your powerful hand, and answer us
so that those who are dear to you may be rescued.
7 Elohim has promised the following through his holiness:
“I will triumph!
I will divide Shechem.
I will measure the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine.
Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is the helmet on my head.
Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washtub.
I will throw my shoe over Edom.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who rejected us?
Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who refused to accompany our armies?
12 Give us help against the enemy
because human assistance is worthless.
13 With Elohim we will display great strength.
He will trample our enemies.
Psalm 109
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 O Elohim, whom I praise, do not turn a deaf ear to me.
2 Wicked and deceitful people have opened their mouths against me.
They speak against me with lying tongues.
3 They surround me with hateful words.
They fight against me for no reason.
4 In return for my love, they accuse me,
but I pray for them.[c]
5 They reward me with evil instead of good
and with hatred instead of love.
6 I said, “Appoint the evil one to oppose him.
Let Satan stand beside him.
7 When he stands trial,
let him be found guilty.
Let his prayer be considered sinful.
8 Let his days be few in number.
Let someone else take his position.
9 “Let his children become fatherless and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children wander around and beg.
Let them seek help far from their ruined homes.
11 Let a creditor take everything he owns.
Let strangers steal what he has worked for.
12 Let no one be kind to him anymore.
Let no one show any pity to his fatherless children.
13 Let his descendants be cut off
and their family name be wiped out by the next generation.
14 Let Yahweh remember the guilt of his ancestors
and not wipe out his mother’s sin.
15 Let their guilt and sin always remain on record
in front of Yahweh.
Let Yahweh remove every memory of him[d] from the earth,
16 because he did not remember to be kind.
“He drove oppressed, needy,
and brokenhearted people to their graves.
17 He loved to put curses on others,
so he, too, was cursed.
He did not like to bless others,
so he never received a blessing.
18 He wore cursing as though it were clothing,
so cursing entered his body like water
and his bones like oil.
19 Let cursing be his clothing,
a belt he always wears.”
20 This is how Yahweh rewards those who accuse me,
those who say evil things against me.
21 O Yahweh Adonay, deal with me out of the goodness of your name.
Rescue me because of your mercy.
22 I am oppressed and needy.
I can feel the pain in my heart.
23 I fade away like a lengthening shadow.
I have been shaken off like a grasshopper.
24 My knees give way because I have been fasting.
My body has become lean, without any fat.
25 I have become the victim of my enemies’ insults.
They look at me and shake their heads.
26 Help me, O Yahweh my Elohim.
Save me because of your mercy.
27 Then they will know that this is your doing,
that you, O Yahweh, are the one who saved me.
28 They may curse, but you will bless.
Let those who attack me be ashamed,
but let me rejoice.
29 Let those who accuse me wear disgrace as though it were clothing.
Let them be wrapped in their shame as though it were a robe.
30 With my mouth I will give many thanks to Yahweh.
I will praise him among many people,
31 because he stands beside needy people
to save them from those who would condemn them to death.
The Lord Will Refine His People Before He Rescues Them from Babylon
48 Listen to this, descendants of Jacob!
You are given the name of Israel.
You are descended from Judah.[a]
You take oaths by the name of Yahweh.
You acknowledge the Elohim of Israel,
but you are not honest or sincere.
2 You call yourselves citizens of the holy city.
You depend on the Elohim of Israel.
His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth.
3 From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen.
These words came out of my mouth,
and I made them known.
Suddenly, I acted, and they happened.
4 I know that you are stubborn.
Like iron, you are hardheaded.
Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull.
5 That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago.
I told you about them before they happened.
I did this so you couldn’t say,
“My gods have done these things.
My carved idols and my metal idols
have commanded them to happen.”
6 You’ve heard these words.
Now look at all this.
Won’t you admit it?
From now on I will reveal to you new things,
hidden things that you do not know.
7 They are created now, not in the past.
You haven’t heard about them before today,
so you can’t say that you already knew about them.
8 You have never heard about them.
You have never known about them.
Your ears have never been open to hear them before.
I know that you’ve acted very treacherously
and that you have been called a rebel since you were born.
9 For my name’s sake I’ll be patient.
For my glory’s sake I’ll hold my anger back from you,
rather than destroy you.
10 I have refined you,
but not like silver.
I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.
11 I am doing this for myself, only for myself.
Why should my name be dishonored?
I will not give my glory to anyone else.
12 Listen to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called.
I am the one.
I am the first and the last.
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth.
My right hand stretched out the heavens.
When I call for them, they both stand.
14 Gather together, all of you, and listen.
What idol has revealed such things?
Yahweh loves Cyrus.
He will carry out Yahweh’s plan against Babylon.
He will use his strength against the Babylonians.
15 I alone have spoken.
I have called him.
I will bring him here, and he will succeed.
16 Come here. Listen to this:
From the beginning I have spoken nothing in private.
From the time it took place, I was there.
Now Adonay Yahweh has sent me and his Ruach.
17 This is what Yahweh, your Go’el, Qedosh Yisrael, says:
I am Yahweh your Elohim.
I teach you what is best for you.
I lead you where you should go.
18 If only you had listened to my commands!
Your peace would be like a river that never runs dry.
Your righteousness would be like waves on the sea.
19 Your descendants would be like sand.
Your children would be like its grains.
Their names would not be cut off or wiped out in my presence.
20 Leave Babylon; flee from the Babylonians!
Shout for joy as you tell it and announce it.
Shout it out to the ends of the earth.
Say that Yahweh has reclaimed his servant Jacob.
21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water flow from a rock for them.
He split a rock, and water gushed out.
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says Yahweh.
Babylon’s Fall
18 After these things I saw another angel come from heaven. He had tremendous power, and his glory lit up the earth. 2 He cried out in a powerful voice, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every evil spirit, every unclean[a] bird, and every unclean and hated beast. 3 All the nations fell because of the wine of her sexual sins. The kings of the earth had sex with her. Her luxurious wealth has made the merchants of the earth rich.”
4 I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, so that you do not participate in her sins and suffer from any of her plagues. 5 Her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Do to her what she has done. Give her twice as much as she gave. Serve her a drink in her own cup twice as large as the drink she served others. 7 She gave herself glory and luxury. Now give her just as much torture and misery. She says to herself, ‘I’m a queen on a throne, not a widow. I’ll never be miserable.’ 8 For this reason her plagues of death, misery, and starvation will come in a single day. She will be burned up in a fire, because the Lord God, who judges her, is powerful.
9 “The kings of the earth who had sex with her and lived in luxury with her will cry and mourn over her when they see the smoke rise from her raging fire. 10 Frightened by her torture, they will stand far away and say,
‘How horrible, how horrible it is for that important city,
the powerful city Babylon!
In one moment judgment has come to it!’
11 “The merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore. 12 No one buys their cargo of gold, silver, gems, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, bright red cloth, all kinds of citron wood, articles made of ivory and very costly wood, bronze, iron, marble, 13 cinnamon, spices, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, slaves (that is, humans).
14 ‘The fruit you craved is gone.
All your luxuries and your splendor have disappeared.
No one will ever find them again.’
15 “Frightened by her torture, the merchants who had become rich by selling these things will stand far away. They will cry and mourn, 16 saying,
‘How horrible, how horrible for that important city
which was wearing fine linen, purple clothes,
bright red clothes, gold jewelry, gems, and pearls.
17 In one moment all this wealth has been destroyed!’
Every ship’s captain, everyone who traveled by ship, sailors, and everyone who made their living from the sea stood far away. 18 When they saw the smoke rise from her raging fire, they repeatedly cried out, ‘Was there ever a city as important as this?’ 19 Then they threw dust on their heads and shouted while crying and mourning,
‘How horrible, how horrible for that important city.
Everyone who had a ship at sea
grew rich because of that city’s high prices.
In one moment it has been destroyed!’
20 “Gloat over it, heaven, God’s people, apostles, and prophets.
God has condemned it for you.”
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a stone that was like a large millstone. He threw it into the sea and said,
“The important city Babylon will be thrown down with the same force.
It will never be found again.
22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters
will never be heard in it again.
A skilled craftsman—regardless of the type of craft—
will never be found in it again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in it again.
23 Light from lamps
will never shine in it again.
Voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in it again.
Its merchants were the important people of the world,
because all the nations were deceived by its witchcraft.
24 “The blood of prophets, God’s people, and everyone who had been murdered on earth was found in it.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.