M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

⁴⁰ They turned against God so often in the desert!
    There they made him very sad.
⁴¹ Again and again they tested God.
    They brought pain to the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They did not remember his power
    or the time he saved them from the enemy.
⁴³ They forgot the signs he did in Egypt
    and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He turned the rivers to blood.
    So no one could drink the water.
⁴⁵ He sent flies that bit the people.
    He sent frogs that destroyed them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to grasshoppers
    and what they worked for to locusts.
⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with hail
    and their sycamore trees with sleet.
⁴⁸ He killed their animals with hail
    and their cattle with lightning.
⁴⁹ He showed them his hot anger.
    He sent his strong anger against them.
    He sent his destroying angels.
⁵⁰ He found a way to show his anger.
    He did not keep them from dying.
    He let them die by a terrible disease.
⁵¹ God killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt,
    the oldest son of each family of Ham.^[a]
52 But God led out his people like sheep.
    He guided them like a flock through the desert.
⁵³ He led them to safety. They had nothing to fear.
    But their enemies drowned in the sea.
⁵⁴ So God brought them to his holy land.
    He brought them to the mountain country he took with his own power.
⁵⁵ He forced out the other nations.
    And he had his people inherit the land.
    He let the tribes of Israel settle there in tents.

⁵⁶ But they tested God
    and turned against the Most High.
    They did not keep his rules.
⁵⁷ They turned away and sinned just like their ancestors.
    They were like a crooked bow that does not shoot straight.
⁵⁸ They made God angry by building places to worship false gods.
    They made him jealous with their idols.
⁵⁹ When God heard them, he became very angry.
    And he rejected the people of Israel completely.
⁶⁰ He left his dwelling at Shiloh,
    the tent where he lived among men.
⁶¹ He let his Ark of the Covenant be captured.
    He let the Ark of the Covenant, which was his glory, be taken by enemies.
⁶² He let his people be killed.
    He was very angry with his children.
⁶³ The young men died by fire.
    The young women had no one to marry.
⁶⁴ Their priests fell by the sword.
    But their widows were not allowed to cry.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord got up as if he had been asleep.
    He awoke like a man who was drunk with wine.
⁶⁶ He struck down his enemies.
    He disgraced them forever.
⁶⁷ But God rejected the family of Joseph.
    He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
⁶⁸ Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah
    and Mount Zion, which he loves.
⁶⁹ And he built his Temple high like the mountains.
    Like the earth, he built it to last forever.
⁷⁰ He chose David to be his servant.
    He took him from the sheep pens.
⁷¹ He brought him from tending the sheep
    so he could lead the flock, the people of Jacob.
    This flock was his own people, the people of Israel.
⁷² And David led them with an innocent heart.
    He guided them with skillful hands.

We have a strong city.
    God protects us with its strong walls and defenses.
² Open the gates,
    and the good people will enter.
    They follow God’s good way of living.
³ You, Lord, give true peace.
    You give peace to those who depend on you.
    You give peace to those who trust you.
⁴ So, trust the Lord always.
    Trust the Lord because he is our Rock forever.
⁵ But the Lord will destroy the proud city.
    And he will punish the people living there.
He will bring that high city down to the ground.
    He throws it down into the dust.
⁶ Then those who were hurt by the city will walk on its ruins.
    Those who were made poor by the city will trample it under their feet.

⁷ The path of life of the people who are right with God is level.
    Lord, you make the way of life smooth for those people.
⁸ But, Lord, we are waiting
    for your way of justice.
Our souls want to remember
    you and your name.
⁹ My soul wants to be with you at night.
    And my spirit wants to be with you at the dawn of every day.
When your way of justice comes to the land,
    people of the world will learn the right way of living.
¹⁰ An evil person will not learn to do good
    even if you show him kindness.
He will continue doing evil, even if he lives in a good world.
    He never sees the Lord’s greatness.
¹¹ Lord, you are ready to punish those people.
    But they do not see that.
Lord, show them your strong love for your people.
    Then the evil people will be ashamed.
Burn them in the fire
    you have prepared for your enemies.
¹² Lord, all our success is because of what you have done.
    So give us peace.
¹³ Lord, our God, other masters besides you have ruled us.
    But we honor only you.
¹⁴ Those masters are now dead.
    Their ghosts will not rise from death.
You decided to destroy them.
    And you destroyed any memory of them.
¹⁵ Lord, you multiplied the number of your people.
    You multiplied them and brought honor to yourself.
You made the borders of the land wide.
¹⁶ Lord, people remember you when they are in trouble.
    They say quiet prayers to you when you punish them.
¹⁷ Lord, when we are with you,
    we are like a woman giving birth to a baby.
    She cries and has pain from the birth.
¹⁸ In the same way, we had pain.
    We gave birth, but only to wind.
We don’t bring salvation to the land.
    We don’t make new people for the world.
¹⁹ Your people have died, but they will live again.
    Their bodies will rise from death.
Dead people in the ground,
    get up and be happy!
The dew covering you is like the dew of a new day.
    The ground will give birth to the dead buried in it.