M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Law Written on Stones
27 Then Moses, along with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commands I have given you today. 2 Soon you will cross the Jordan River to go into the land the Lord your God is giving you. On that day set up some large stones and cover them with plaster. 3 When you cross over, write all the words of these teachings on them. Then you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a fertile land, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised. 4 After you have crossed the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and cover them with plaster. 5 Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God, but don’t use any iron tool to cut the stones; 6 build the altar of the Lord your God with stones from the field. Offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, 7 and offer fellowship offerings there, and eat them and rejoice before the Lord your God. 8 Then write clearly all the words of these teachings on the stones.”
Curses of the Law
9 Then Moses and the Levites who were priests spoke to all Israel and said, “Be quiet, Israel. Listen! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 Obey the Lord your God, and keep his commands and laws that I give you today.”
11 That day Moses also gave the people this command:
12 When you cross the Jordan River, these tribes must stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. 13 And these tribes must stand on Mount Ebal to announce the curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 The Levites will say to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:
15 “Anyone will be cursed who makes an idol or statue and secretly sets it up, because the Lord hates the idols people make.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
16 “Anyone will be cursed who dishonors his father or mother.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
17 “Anyone will be cursed who moves the stone that marks a neighbor’s border.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
18 “Anyone will be cursed who sends a blind person down the wrong road.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
19 “Anyone will be cursed who is unfair to foreigners, orphans, or widows.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
20 “A man will be cursed who has sexual relations with his father’s wife, because it is a dishonor to his father.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
21 “Anyone will be cursed who has sexual relations with an animal.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
22 “A man will be cursed who has sexual relations with his sister, whether she is his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
23 “A man will be cursed who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
24 “Anyone will be cursed who kills a neighbor secretly.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
25 “Anyone will be cursed who takes money to murder an innocent person.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
26 “Anyone will be cursed who does not agree with the words of these teachings and does not obey them.”
Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
Blessings for Obeying
28 You must completely obey the Lord your God, and you must carefully follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God so that all these blessings will come and stay with you:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 Your children will be blessed, as well as your crops; your herds will be blessed with calves and your flocks with lambs.
5 Your basket and your kitchen will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and when you go out.
7 The Lord will help you defeat the enemies that come to fight you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will run from you in seven directions.
8 The Lord your God will bless you with full barns, and he will bless everything you do. He will bless the land he is giving you.
9 The Lord will make you his holy people, as he promised. But you must obey his commands and do what he wants you to do. 10 Then everyone on earth will see that you are the Lord’s people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will make you rich: You will have many children, your animals will have many young, and your land will give good crops. It is the land that the Lord promised your ancestors he would give to you.
12 The Lord will open up his heavenly storehouse so that the skies send rain on your land at the right time, and he will bless everything you do. You will lend to other nations, but you will not need to borrow from them. 13 The Lord will make you like the head and not like the tail; you will be on top and not on bottom. But you must obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, being careful to keep them. 14 Do not disobey anything I command you today. Do exactly as I command, and do not follow other gods or serve them.
Curses for Disobeying
15 But if you do not obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands and laws I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and stay:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and your kitchen will be cursed.
18 Your children will be cursed, as well as your crops; the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks will be cursed.
19 You will be cursed when you go in and when you go out.
The Word of God
119 Happy are those who live pure lives,
who follow the Lord’s teachings.
2 Happy are those who keep his rules,
who try to obey him with their whole heart.
3 They don’t do what is wrong;
they follow his ways.
4 Lord, you gave your orders
to be obeyed completely.
5 I wish I were more loyal
in obeying your demands.
6 Then I would not be ashamed
when I study your commands.
7 When I learned that your laws are fair,
I praised you with an honest heart.
8 I will obey your demands,
so please don’t ever leave me.
9 How can a young person live a pure life?
By obeying your word.
10 With all my heart I try to obey you.
Don’t let me break your commands.
11 I have taken your words to heart
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you should be praised.
Teach me your demands.
13 My lips will tell about
all the laws you have spoken.
14 I enjoy living by your rules
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I think about your orders
and study your ways.
16 I enjoy obeying your demands,
and I will not forget your word.
17 Do good to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can obey your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the miracles in your teachings.
19 I am a stranger on earth.
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 I wear myself out with desire
for your laws all the time.
21 You scold proud people;
those who ignore your commands are cursed.
22 Don’t let me be insulted and hated
because I keep your rules.
23 Even if princes speak against me,
I, your servant, will think about your demands.
24 Your rules give me pleasure;
they give me good advice.
People Will Return to Jerusalem
54 The Lord says, “Sing, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth,
but you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.
2 Make your tent bigger;
stretch it out and make it wider.
Do not hold back.
Make the ropes longer
and its stakes stronger,
3 because you will spread out to the right and to the left.
Your children will take over other nations,
and they will again live in cities that once were destroyed.
4 “Don’t be afraid, because you will not be ashamed.
Don’t be embarrassed, because you will not be disgraced.
You will forget the shame you felt earlier;
you will not remember the shame you felt when you lost your husband.
5 The God who made you is like your husband.
His name is the Lord All-Powerful.
The Holy One of Israel is the one who saves you.
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 You were like a woman whose husband left her,
and you were very sad.
You were like a wife who married young
and then her husband left her.
But the Lord called you to be his,”
says your God.
7 God says, “I left you for a short time,
but with great kindness I will bring you back again.
8 I became very angry
and hid from you for a time,
but I will show you mercy with kindness forever,”
says the Lord who saves you.
9 The Lord says, “This day is like the time of Noah to me.
I promised then that I would never flood the world again.
In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you
or punish you again.
10 The mountains may disappear,
and the hills may come to an end,
but my love will never disappear;
my promise of peace will not come to an end,”
says the Lord who shows mercy to you.
11 “You poor city. Storms have hurt you,
and you have not been comforted.
But I will rebuild you with turquoise stones,
and I will build your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will use rubies to build your walls
and shining jewels for the gates
and precious jewels for all your outer walls.
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and they will have much peace.
14 I will build you using fairness.
You will be safe from those who would hurt you,
so you will have nothing to fear.
Nothing will come to make you afraid.
15 I will not send anyone to attack you,
and you will defeat those who do attack you.
16 “See, I made the blacksmith.
He fans the fire to make it hotter,
and he makes the kind of tool he wants.
In the same way I have made the destroyer to destroy.
17 So no weapon that is used against you will defeat you.
You will show that those who speak against you are wrong.
These are the good things my servants receive.
Their victory comes from me,” says the Lord.
Wise Men Come to Visit Jesus
2 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as were all the people in Jerusalem. 4 Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of the law and asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this in the Scriptures:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are not just an insignificant village in Judah.
A ruler will come from you
who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.’” Micah 5:2
7 Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them the exact time they first saw the star. 8 He sent the wise men to Bethlehem, saying, “Look carefully for the child. When you find him, come tell me so I can worship him too.”
9 After the wise men heard the king, they left. The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way.
Jesus’ Parents Take Him to Egypt
13 After they left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, because Herod is starting to look for the child so he can kill him. Stay in Egypt until I tell you to return.”
14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother. 15 And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to bring about what the Lord had said through the prophet: “I called my son out of Egypt.”[a]
Herod Kills the Baby Boys
16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he learned from the wise men. 17 So what God had said through the prophet Jeremiah came true:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah
of painful crying and deep sadness:
Rachel crying for her children.
She refused to be comforted,
because her children are dead.” Jeremiah 31:15
Joseph and Mary Return
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because the people who were trying to kill the child are now dead.”
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother and went to Israel. 22 But he heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea since his father Herod had died. So Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee, 23 to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what God had said through the prophets came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”[b]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.