M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
19 1-2 The Lord also told Moses to tell the people of Israel, “You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. You must respect your mothers and fathers, and obey my Sabbath law, for I am the Lord your God. 3-4 Do not make or worship idols, for I am Jehovah your God.
5 “When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, offer it correctly so that it will be accepted: 6 Eat it the same day you offer it, or the next day at the latest; any remaining until the third day must be burned. 7 For any of it eaten on the third day is repulsive to me and will not be accepted. 8 If you eat it on the third day, you are guilty, for you profane the holiness of Jehovah, and you shall be excommunicated from Jehovah’s people.
9 “When you harvest your crops, don’t reap the corners of your fields, and don’t pick up stray grains of wheat from the ground. 10 It is the same with your grape crop—don’t strip every last piece of fruit from the vines, and don’t pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and for those traveling through, for I am Jehovah your God.
11 “You must not steal nor lie nor defraud. 12 You must not swear to a falsehood, thus bringing reproach upon the name of your God, for I am Jehovah.
13 “You shall not rob nor oppress anyone, and you shall pay your hired workers promptly. If something is due them, don’t even keep it overnight.
14 “You must not curse the deaf nor trip up a blind man as he walks. Fear your God; I am Jehovah!
15 “Judges must always be just in their sentences, not noticing whether a person is poor or rich; they must always be perfectly fair.
16 “Don’t gossip. Don’t falsely accuse your neighbor of some crime,[a] for I am Jehovah.
17 “Don’t hate your brother. Rebuke anyone who sins; don’t let him get away with it, or you will be equally guilty. 18 Don’t seek vengeance. Don’t bear a grudge; but love your neighbor as yourself, for I am Jehovah.
19 “Obey my laws: Do not mate your cattle with a different kind; don’t sow your field with two kinds of seed; don’t wear clothes made of half wool and half linen.
20 “If a man seduces a slave girl[b] who is engaged to be married, they shall be tried in a court but not put to death, because she is not free. 21 The man involved shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the offering shall be a ram. 22 The priest shall make atonement with the ram for the sin the man has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
23 “When you enter the land and have planted all kinds of fruit trees, do not eat the first three crops, for they are considered ceremonially defiled.[c] 24 And the fourth year the entire crop shall be devoted to the Lord, and shall be given to the Lord in praise to him. 25 Finally, in the fifth year, the crop is yours.
26 “I am Jehovah your God! You must not eat meat with undrained blood nor use fortune-telling or witchcraft.
27 “You must not trim off your hair on your temples or clip the edges of your beard, as the heathen do.[d] 28 You shall not cut yourselves nor put tattoo marks upon yourselves in connection with funeral rites; I am the Lord.
29 “Do not violate your daughter’s sanctity by making her a prostitute, lest the land become full of enormous wickedness.
30 “Keep my Sabbath laws and reverence my Tabernacle, for I am the Lord.
31 “Do not defile yourselves by consulting mediums and wizards, for I am Jehovah your God.
32 “You shall give due honor and respect to the elderly, in the fear of God. I am Jehovah.
33 “Do not take advantage of foreigners in your land; do not wrong them. 34 They must be treated like any other citizen; love them as yourself, for remember that you too were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.
35-36 “You must be impartial in judgment. Use accurate measurements—lengths, weights, and volumes—and give full measure, for I am Jehovah your God who brought you from the land of Egypt. 37 You must heed all of my commandments and ordinances, carefully obeying them, for I am Jehovah.”
23 Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!
2-3 He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most.
4 Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way.[a]
5 You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as your guest;[b] blessings overflow!
6 Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you forever in your home.
24 The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his! 2 He is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear.[c]
3 Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where he lives? Who may stand before the Lord? 4 Only those with pure hands and hearts, who do not practice dishonesty and lying. 5 They will receive God’s own goodness[d] as their blessing from him, planted in their lives by God himself, their Savior. 6 These are the ones who are allowed to stand before the Lord and worship the God of Jacob.
7 Open up, O ancient gates, and let the King of Glory in. 8 Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, invincible in battle. 9 Yes, open wide the gates and let the King of Glory in.
10 Who is this King of Glory? The Commander of all of heaven’s armies!
2 1-2 I said to myself, “Come now, be merry; enjoy yourself to the full.” But I found that this, too, was futile. For it is silly to be laughing all the time; what good does it do?
3 So after a lot of thinking, I decided to try the road of drink, while still holding steadily to my course of seeking wisdom.
Next I changed my course again and followed the path of folly, so that I could experience the only happiness most men have throughout their lives.
4-6 Then I tried to find fulfillment by inaugurating a great public works program: homes, vineyards, gardens, parks, and orchards for myself, and reservoirs to hold the water to irrigate my plantations.
7-8 Next I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born within my household. I also bred great herds and flocks, more than any of the kings before me. I collected silver and gold as taxes from many kings and provinces.
In the cultural arts, I organized men’s and women’s choirs and orchestras.
And then there were my many beautiful concubines.
9 So I became greater than any of the kings in Jerusalem before me, and with it all I remained clear-eyed, so that I could evaluate all these things. 10 Anything I wanted I took and did not restrain myself from any joy. I even found great pleasure in hard work. This pleasure was, indeed, my only reward for all my labors.
11 But as I looked at everything I had tried, it was all so useless, a chasing of the wind, and there was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
12 Now I began a study of the comparative virtues of wisdom and folly, and anyone else would come to the same conclusion I did[a]— 13-14 that wisdom is of more value than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness; for the wise man sees, while the fool is blind. And yet I noticed that there was one thing that happened to wise and foolish alike— 15 just as the fool will die, so will I. So of what value is all my wisdom? Then I realized that even wisdom is futile. 16 For the wise and fool both die, and in the days to come both will be long forgotten. 17 So now I hate life because it is all so irrational; all is foolishness, chasing the wind.
18 And I am disgusted about this—that I must leave the fruits of all my hard work to others. 19 And who can tell whether my son will be a wise man or a fool? And yet all I have will be given to him—how discouraging!
20-23 So I turned in despair from hard work as the answer to my search for satisfaction. For though I spend my life searching for wisdom, knowledge, and skill, I must leave all of it to someone who hasn’t done a day’s work in his life; he inherits all my efforts, free of charge. This is not only foolish but unfair. So what does a man get for all his hard work? Days full of sorrow and grief, and restless, bitter nights. It is all utterly ridiculous.
24-26 So I decided that there was nothing better for a man to do than to enjoy his food and drink and his job. Then I realized that even this pleasure is from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy apart from him? For God gives those who please him wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away from him and gives it to those who please him. So here, too, we see an example of foolishly chasing the wind.
4 But the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some in the church will turn away from Christ and become eager followers of teachers with devil-inspired ideas. 2 These teachers will tell lies with straight faces and do it so often that their consciences won’t even bother them.
3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat meat, even though God gave these things to well-taught Christians to enjoy and be thankful for. 4 For everything God made is good, and we may eat it gladly if we are thankful for it, 5 and if we ask God to bless it, for it is made good by the Word of God and prayer.
6 If you explain this to the others you will be doing your duty as a worthy pastor who is fed by faith and by the true teaching you have followed.
7 Don’t waste time arguing over foolish ideas and silly myths and legends. Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit. 8 Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually, and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too. 9-10 This is the truth and everyone should accept it. We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe it, for our hope is in the living God who died for all, and particularly for those who have accepted his salvation.
11 Teach these things and make sure everyone learns them well. 12 Don’t let anyone think little of you because you are young. Be their ideal; let them follow the way you teach and live; be a pattern for them in your love, your faith, and your clean thoughts. 13 Until I get there, read and explain the Scriptures to the church; preach God’s Word.
14 Be sure to use the abilities God has given you through his prophets when the elders of the church laid their hands upon your head. 15 Put these abilities to work; throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone may notice your improvement and progress. 16 Keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.