M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Meetings to worship God
23 Perhaps a man has sex parts that someone has destroyed or spoiled. That man cannot join with the Lord's people when they meet together. 2 If someone was born when his parents were not properly married, he cannot join with the Lord's people. His descendants may not meet with the Lord's people to worship the Lord either. That will continue to the tenth generation of the man's descendants.
3 Ammonite and Moabite people also cannot join with the Lord's people when they come together to worship him. Even the tenth generation of their descendants can never do this. 4 The people of those nations refused to help you when you were leaving Egypt. They did not give you food or water. Also, they paid Beor's son Balaam to curse you. He came from Pethor in Mesopotamia. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He refused to curse you. Instead, he blessed you. The Lord your God did that because he loves you. 6 You must never do anything to help these two nations. Do not let them live in peace.
7 But do not hate anyone from Edom. The Edomites have the same ancestor as you. Do not hate an Egyptian person. You once lived as foreigners in Egypt. 8 The third generation of their descendants can join with the Lord's people when they meet together to worship him.
Keep the camp clean
9 Your soldiers may be living in tents while they fight against your enemies. They must keep away from anything that makes them unclean. 10 While a man is asleep, semen may come from his sex part. That makes him unclean so he must go outside the camp. He must stay there all day. 11 In the evening, he must wash himself. At sunset he can return into the camp.
12 You must choose a special place outside the camp. Use that place as your toilet. 13 Always carry a small spade with your other tools. When you go to the toilet, dig a hole with your spade. Then bury your dung in it and cover it with earth. 14 For the Lord your God moves among you in your camp. He keeps you safe from your enemies so that you win against them. So make sure that your camp is a holy place. The Lord must not see anything that would bring shame on you. Do not make him turn away from you.
15 Someone's slave may escape from his master and come to you. If that happens, do not send him back to his master. 16 He can live anywhere among you. He may choose to live in any of your towns that he likes. Do not be cruel to him.
17 No Israelite man or woman must ever become a prostitute at places where people worship their gods. 18 You must not bring the money that people pay to these prostitutes into the Lord's temple. Do not use it to offer a gift that you have promised to the Lord your God. He hates prostitutes, both men and women.
19 You may lend money or food or anything else to another Israelite. But do not ask him to give you back more than you lent to him. 20 You can ask a foreign person to pay back more, but not an Israelite. If you obey this command, the Lord your God will bless you. When you live in your new land, God will bless everything that you do.
21 If you promise to give something to the Lord your God, be careful to bring your gift soon. If you do not bring it, that is a sin. The Lord will certainly demand it from you. 22 You may choose not to promise any gift. That is not a sin. 23 But whatever you promise to do, you must be careful to do it. If you choose to promise a gift to the Lord your God, give it soon.
24 If you go into your neighbour's vineyard, you may eat some of the grapes. You may eat as many grapes as you want, but do not carry any away in a basket. 25 If you go into your neighbour's field of grain, you may eat some of it. You may pick some grain with your hands, but do not use a knife to cut it down.[a]
God makes his people strong[a]
112 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
When someone respects the Lord with fear,
God has blessed that person!
He is happy to obey the Lord's commands.
2 His children will become powerful in the land.
God will bless their descendants who serve him.
3 His family will have valuable things,
and they will be rich.
People will always remember
the good things that they have done.
4 God's light shines on those who serve him,
even when they are in a dark place.
God blesses those who are kind to others,
and who do what is right and fair.
5 People who are kind and lend money to others,
and who work in an honest way,
will enjoy a good life.
6 Righteous people will never fail.
People will always remember them.
7 They are not afraid to hear bad news.
They are brave,
because they trust in the Lord.
8 Their thoughts are strong
and they will not be afraid.
They know that they will win against their enemies.
9 They give their things to help poor people.
People will always remember
the good things that they have done.
They will be powerful
and people will respect them.
10 When wicked people see this,
they will be angry.
They will show their teeth in anger,
but then they will disappear.
Whatever wicked people want,
they will never get it.
Hallelujah, God helps weak people[b]
113 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Servants of the Lord, praise him!
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 Everyone should praise the Lord
now and for ever!
3 The Lord deserves that people praise him,
from where the sun rises in the east,
to where it goes down in the west.
4 The Lord rules over all nations.
His glory is great
higher than the heavens!
5 There is nobody like the Lord our God.
He sits on his throne high above us.
6 He bends down to look below,
at the sky and the earth.
7 He lifts poor people out of the dirt.
And he lifts up weak people from the ashes.
8 He gives them a seat with princes,
the princes who rule his own people.
9 He makes the wife who cannot give birth
into a happy mother of children.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
50 This is what the Lord says to his people:
‘Did I send your mother away,
like a man sends away his wife?
Where is the paper to say
why I have sent her away?
Did I sell you to pay people that I was in debt to?
Where is the paper that shows
the reason for my debt?
Listen! I sold you because of your sins.
I sent your mother away
because you have not obeyed me.[a]
2 Nobody was there to meet me,
when I came to help you.
When I called out to you,
nobody answered me.
Do you think that my arm is too weak to rescue you?
Am I not strong enough to save you?
Look! I can speak to the sea so that it becomes dry!
I can cause rivers to become deserts.
Then the fish die because they have no water.
3 I can cause the sky to become dark,
as if I have covered it with sackcloth.’
The Lord's Servant
4 ‘The Almighty Lord has given his message to me, his servant.
I speak it on his behalf.
I know what to say to help weak and tired people.
The Lord wakes me up every morning
so that I can learn something.
I listen carefully to him,
as a student listens to his teacher.
5 The Almighty Lord has spoken clearly to me.
I have accepted his message,
and I have not turned back.
6 I offered my back
to the people who hit me.
I offered my face
to the people who pulled out my beard.
When they insulted me and they spat at me,
I did not hide my face from them.
7 The Almighty Lord helps me,
so I will not be ashamed.
I have decided to stand and be strong,
because I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 God is the one who says that I am right,
and he stands beside me.
So who will accuse me that I have done something wrong?
We should meet in court!
Anyone who accuses me should come and speak!
9 Look! The Almighty Lord himself helps me.
So nobody can say that I am guilty.
All the people who accuse me will soon disappear.
They will spoil like old clothes that moths have eaten!’
10 Do any of you respect the Lord with fear?
Do any of you obey his servant's message?
Are you walking in a place that is completely dark,
where there is no light?
Then you should trust in the Lord
as the God who will help you.
11 But no! You have lit your own fires.
You have burned branches to give yourselves light.
So now you must walk in the light of the fires that you have lit.
And this is what I will do for you:
I will punish you with great pain!
The 1,000 years
20 Then I saw an angel who was coming down from heaven. He was holding the key to the deep hole.[a] He also held a great chain in his hand. 2 He took hold of the dragon. That dragon is the Devil and Satan. He is the snake who has lived since long ago.[b] The angel tied up the dragon with the chain for 1,000 years. 3 Then he threw the dragon into the deep hole. He closed the door to the deep hole, and he locked it with the key. He put a seal on the door. During that time, Satan could no longer deceive the people of all nations. But after the 1,000 years have finished, he must go free for a short time.
4 Then I saw some thrones, and I saw people who were sitting on them. These people had received authority to judge other people. I also saw the souls of people who had died because they served Jesus. People had cut off their heads because they had told the truth about Jesus, and they had spoken God's message. These believers had not worshipped the wild animal or his image. They had not received the wild animal's mark on their heads or on their hands. Now they became alive again. They ruled as kings together with Christ for 1,000 years. 5 (But all the other dead people did not become alive again until the 1,000 years had finished.) This is the first time that God raises up dead people to become alive again. 6 God has blessed those people that he raises up that first time. They belong to God as his holy people. The second death has no power over them. Instead, they will be priests who serve God and Christ. They will rule as kings with him for 1,000 years.
God sends Satan into the lake of fire
7 When the 1,000 years have finished, God will let Satan go free out of his prison. 8 Satan will then go and deceive people in nations everywhere in the world. He will make them believe him. Those nations are God's enemies, Gog and Magog.[c] Satan will bring them together to fight a war against God's people. Satan's army has many people, as much as the sand on the shore of the sea.[d] 9 I saw them as they marched over the whole earth. They arrived at the city which God loves. That is where God's people had made their camp. Satan's army made their camp all around the city. Then fire came down from heaven and it destroyed them completely. 10 The Devil had deceived those people. I saw God throw him into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the lake where he had already thrown the wild animal and the false prophet. They will have a lot of pain in that place, all day and all night for ever.
God judges all the dead people
11 Then I saw a great white throne. I saw that God was sitting on it. The earth and the sky rushed away from the place where he sat. There was no longer any place for them. 12 I also saw the people who had died, important people and ordinary people. They were standing in front of the great throne. Then someone opened books to see what was in them. God had written in them all the things that the people had done. Then someone opened another book which is God's book of life.[e] God judged the people who had died. He looked in the books to see what they had done, and he decided what was right.
13 The sea brought up all the dead people who were in it. Death and Hades, the place for dead people, brought up all the dead people who were there too. God judged each person. God saw what they had done, and he decided what was right. 14 Then God threw Death and Hades into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death for people. 15 If anyone's name was not written in the book of life, God threw that person into the lake of fire.
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