M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Cities of Refuge
19 “When the Lord your God annihilates the nations whose land he is giving you,(A) so that you drive them out and live in their cities and houses, 2 you are to set apart three cities for yourselves within the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.(B) 3 You are to determine the distances[a] and divide the land the Lord your God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions, so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.[b]
4 “Here is the law concerning a case of someone who kills a person and flees there to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him: 5 If, for example, he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may flee to one of these cities and live. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood in the heat of his anger[c] might pursue the one who committed manslaughter, overtake him because the distance is great, and strike him dead. Yet he did not deserve to die,[d] since he did not previously hate his neighbor. 7 This is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves. 8 If the Lord your God enlarges your territory as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised to give them— 9 provided you keep every one of these commands I am giving you today and follow them, loving the Lord your God and walking in his ways at all times—you are to add three more cities to these three. 10 In this way, innocent blood will not be shed, and you will not become guilty of bloodshed in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.(C) 11 But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in ambush for him, attacks him, and strikes him fatally, and flees to one of these cities, 12 the elders of his city are to send for him, take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood and he will die. 13 Do not look on him with pity but purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, and you will prosper.
Boundary Markers
14 “Do not move your neighbor’s boundary marker,(D) established at the start in the inheritance you will receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
Witnesses in Court
15 “One witness cannot establish any iniquity or sin against a person, whatever that person has done.(E) A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.(F)
16 “If a malicious witness(G) testifies against someone accusing him of a crime, 17 the two people in the dispute are to stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges in authority at that time. 18 The judges are to make a careful investigation, and if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, 19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from you. 20 Then everyone else will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything evil like this among you.(H) 21 Do not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.(I)
Psalm 106
Israel’s Unfaithfulness to God
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts
or proclaim all the praise due him?(B)
3 How happy are those who uphold justice,
who practice righteousness at all times.(C)
4 Remember me, Lord,
when you show favor to your people.(D)
Come to me with your salvation
5 so that I may enjoy the prosperity
of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your nation,
and boast about your heritage.(E)
6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.(F)
7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not grasp
the significance of your wondrous works
or remember your many acts of faithful love;
instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.(G)
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his power known.(H)
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.(I)
10 He saved them from the power of the adversary;
he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.(J)
11 Water covered their foes;
not one of them remained.(K)
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.(L)
13 They soon forgot his works
and would not wait for his counsel.(M)
14 They were seized with craving in the wilderness
and tested God in the desert.(N)
15 He gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease among them.(O)
16 In the camp they were envious of Moses
and of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.(P)
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it covered the assembly of Abiram.(Q)
18 Fire blazed throughout their assembly;
flames consumed the wicked.(R)
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped the cast metal image.(S)
20 They exchanged their glory[a][b]
for the image of a grass-eating ox.(T)
21 They forgot God their Savior,
who did great things in Egypt,(U)
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,[c]
awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.(V)
23 So he said he would have destroyed them—
if Moses his chosen one
had not stood before him in the breach
to turn his wrath away from destroying them.(W)
24 They despised the pleasant land
and did not believe his promise.(X)
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not listen to the Lord.(Y)
26 So he raised his hand against them with an oath
that he would make them fall in the desert(Z)
27 and would disperse their descendants[d]
among the nations,
scattering them throughout the lands.(AA)
28 They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.[e](AB)
29 They angered the Lord with their deeds,
and a plague broke out against them.(AC)
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stopped.(AD)
31 It was credited to him as righteousness
throughout all generations to come.(AE)
32 They angered the Lord at the Waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered[f] because of them,(AF)
33 for they embittered his spirit,[g]
and he spoke rashly with his lips.(AG)
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them(AH)
35 but mingled with the nations
and adopted their ways.(AI)
36 They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.(AJ)
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.(AK)
38 They shed innocent blood—
the blood of their sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
so the land became polluted with blood.(AL)
39 They defiled themselves by their actions
and prostituted themselves by their deeds.(AM)
40 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his own inheritance.(AN)
41 He handed them over to the nations;
those who hated them ruled over them.(AO)
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their power.(AP)
43 He rescued them many times,
but they continued to rebel deliberately
and were beaten down by their iniquity.(AQ)
44 When he heard their cry,
he took note of their distress,(AR)
45 remembered his covenant with them,
and relented according to the abundance
of his faithful love.(AS)
46 He caused them to be pitied
before all their captors.(AT)
47 Save us, Lord our God,
and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and rejoice in your praise.(AU)
There Is No One Like God
46 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.(A)
Idols depicting them are consigned to beasts and cattle.
The images you carry are loaded,
as a burden for the weary animal.
2 The gods cower; they crouch together;
they are not able to rescue the burden,
but they themselves go into captivity.(B)
3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been sustained from the womb,
carried along since birth.
4 I will be the same until your old age,(C)
and I will bear you up when you turn gray.
I have made you, and I will carry you;
I will bear and rescue you.
5 “To whom will you compare me or make me equal?
Who will you measure me with,
so that we should be like each other?(D)
6 Those who pour out their bags of gold
and weigh out silver on scales—
they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.
Then they kneel and bow down to it.(E)
7 They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;(F)
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.(G)
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.
8 “Remember this and be brave;[a]
take it to heart, you transgressors!
9 Remember what happened long ago,(H)
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and no one is like me.
10 I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: my plan will take place,
and I will do all my will.(I)
11 I call a bird of prey[b] from the east,(J)
a man for my purpose from a far country.
Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.(K)
I have planned it; I will also do it.
12 Listen to me, you hardhearted,
far removed from justice:
13 I am bringing my justice near;(L)
it is not far away,
and my salvation will not delay.
I will put salvation in Zion,
my splendor in Israel.
The First Bowl
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels,(A) “Go and pour out the seven[a] bowls(B) of God’s wrath on the earth.” 2 The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores(C) broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
The Second Bowl
3 The second[b] poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead person, and all life in the sea died.(D)
The Third Bowl
4 The third[c] poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.(E) 5 I heard the angel of the waters say,
You are just,
the Holy One,(F) who is and who was,(G)
because you have passed judgment on these things.
6 Because they poured out
the blood of the saints and the prophets,(H)
you have given them blood to drink;
they deserve it!(I)
7 I heard the altar say,
Yes, Lord God, the Almighty,
true and just are your judgments.(J)
The Fourth Bowl
8 The fourth[d] poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire, 9 and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God,(K) who has the power[e] over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.(L)
The Fifth Bowl
10 The fifth[f] poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast,(M) and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.(N) People[g] gnawed their tongues because of their pain 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven(O) because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.
The Sixth Bowl
12 The sixth[h] poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,(P) and its water was dried up(Q) to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs(R) coming from the dragon’s mouth,(S) from the beast’s mouth,(T) and from the mouth of the false prophet.(U) 14 For they are demonic spirits performing signs,(V) who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them(W) for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.(X) 15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed(Y) is the one who is alert and remains clothed[i](Z) so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”(AA) 16 So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.[j](AB)
The Seventh Bowl
17 Then the seventh[k] poured out his bowl into the air,[l] and a loud voice came out of the temple[m](AC) from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake.(AD) 19 The great city(AE) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations[n] fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger.(AF) 20 Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared.(AG) 21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[o] fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God(AH) for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.(AI)
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