M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Safe Towns
(Numbers 35.9-28; Joshua 20.1-9)
Moses said to Israel:
19 (A) Soon you will go into the land and attack the nations. The Lord your God will destroy them and give you their lands, towns, and homes. Then after you are settled, 2-4 you must choose three of your towns to be Safe Towns. Divide the land into three regions with one Safe Town near the middle of each, so that a Safe Town can be easily reached from anywhere in your land.
Then, if one of you accidentally kills someone, you can run to a Safe Town and find protection from being put to death. But you must not have been angry with the person you killed.
5 For example, suppose you and a friend go into the forest to cut wood. You are chopping down a tree with an ax, when the ax head slips off the handle, hits your friend, and kills him. You can run to one of the Safe Towns and save your life. 6 You don't deserve to die, since you did not mean to harm your friend. But he did get killed, and his relatives might be very angry. They might even choose one of the men from their family to track you down and kill you. If it is too far to one of the Safe Towns, the victim's relative might be able to catch you and kill you. 7 That's why I said there must be three Safe Towns.
8-9 Israel, the Lord your God has promised that if you obey his laws and teachings I'm giving you, and if you always love him, then he will give you the land he promised your ancestors. When that happens, you must name three more Safe Towns in the new territory. 10 You will need them, so innocent people won't be killed on your land while they are trying to reach a Safe Town that is too far away. You will be guilty of murder, if innocent people lose their lives because you didn't name enough Safe Towns in the land the Lord your God will give you.
11 But what if you really do commit murder? Suppose one of you hates a neighbor. So you wait in a deserted place, kill the neighbor, and run to a Safe Town. 12 If that happens, the leaders of your town must send messengers to bring you back from the Safe Town. They will hand you over to one of the victim's relatives, who will put you to death.
13 Israel, for the good of the whole country, you must kill anyone who murders an innocent person. Never show mercy to a murderer!
Property Lines
Moses said to Israel:
14 (B) In the land the Lord is giving you, there are already stones set up to mark the property lines between fields. So don't move those stones.
Witnesses Must Tell the Truth
Moses said to Israel:
15 (C) Before you are convicted of a crime, at least two witnesses must be able to testify that you did it.
16 If you accuse someone of a crime, but seem to be lying, 17-18 then both you and the accused must be taken to the court at the place where the Lord is worshiped. There the priests and judges will find out if you are lying or telling the truth.
If you are lying and the accused is innocent, 19-21 (D) then you will be punished without mercy. You will receive the same punishment the accused would have received if found guilty, whether it means losing an eye, a tooth, a hand, a foot, or even your life.
Israel, the crime of telling lies in court must be punished. And when people hear what happens to witnesses that lie, everyone else who testifies in court will tell the truth.
A Nation Asks for Forgiveness
1 (A) We will celebrate
and praise you, Lord!
You are good to us,
and your love never fails.
2 No one can praise you enough
for all the mighty things
you have done.
3 You bless those people
who are honest and fair
in everything they do.
4 Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
by saving your people.
5 Let me prosper with the rest
of your chosen ones,
as they celebrate with pride
because they belong to you.
6 We and our ancestors
have sinned terribly.
7 (B) When they were in Egypt,
they paid no attention
to your marvelous deeds
or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
at the Red Sea.[a]
8 But you were true to your name,
and you rescued them to prove
how mighty you are.
9 (C) You said to the Red Sea,[b]
“Dry up!”
Then you led your people across
on land as dry as a desert.
10 You saved all of them
11 and drowned every one
of their enemies.
12 (D) Then your people trusted you
and sang your praises.
13 But they soon forgot
what you had done
and rejected your advice.
14 (E) They became greedy for food
and tested you there
in the desert.
15 So you gave them
what they wanted,
but later you destroyed them
with a horrible disease.
16 (F) Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses and of Aaron,
your chosen priest.
17 Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
and the earth opened up
and swallowed them.
18 Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
of their followers.
19 (G) At Horeb your people
made and worshiped the statue
20 of a bull, instead of you,
their glorious God.
21 You worked powerful miracles
to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
22 and the fearsome things
you did at the Red Sea.[c]
23 You were angry and started
to destroy them,
but Moses, your chosen leader,
begged you not to do it.
24 (H) They would not trust
you, Lord,
and they did not like
the promised land.
25 They would not obey you,
and they grumbled
in their tents.
26 So you threatened them
by saying, “I'll kill you
out here in the desert!
27 (I) I'll scatter your children
everywhere in the world.”
28 (J) Your people became followers
of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices
offered to the dead.[d]
29 They did such terrible things
that you punished them
with a deadly disease.
30 But Phinehas[e] helped them,
and the sickness stopped.
31 Now he will always
be highly honored.
32 (K) At Meribah Spring[f]
they turned against you
and made you furious.
33 Then Moses got into trouble
for speaking in anger.
34 (L) Our Lord, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy
the nations.
35 Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
and followed their customs.
36 Then they fell into the trap
of worshiping idols.
37 (M) They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons
38 (N) and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
and made the land filthy.
39 By doing such gruesome things,
they also became filthy.
40 (O) Finally, Lord, you were angry
and terribly disgusted
with your people.
41 So you put them in the power
of nations that hated them.
42 They were mistreated and abused
by their enemies,
43 but you saved them
time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused
their downfall.
44 You answered their prayers
when they were in trouble.
45 You kept your agreement
and were so merciful
46 that their enemies
had pity on them.
47 (P) Save us, Lord God!
Bring us back
from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
in praise of your holy name.
48 Lord God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised
forever and ever.
Let everyone say, “Amen!
Shout praises to the Lord!”
Babylonia's Gods Are Helpless
The Lord said:
46 The gods Bel and Nebo[a]
are down on their knees,
as wooden images of them
are carried away
on weary animals.[b]
2 They are down on their knees
to rescue the heavy load,
but the images are still taken
to a foreign country.
3 You survivors in Israel,
listen to me, the Lord.
Since the day you were born,
I have carried you along.
4 I will still be the same
when you are old and gray,
and I will take care of you.
I created you. I will carry you
and always keep you safe.
5 Can anyone compare with me?
Is anyone my equal?
6 Some people hire a goldsmith
and give silver and gold
to be formed into an idol
for them to worship.
7 They carry the idol
on their shoulders,
then put it on a stand,
but it cannot move.
They call out to the idol
when they are in trouble,
but it doesn't answer,
and it cannot help.
8 Now keep this in mind,[c]
you sinful people.
And don't ever forget it.
The Lord Alone Is God
9 I alone am God!
There are no other gods;
no one is like me.
Think about what happened
many years ago.
10 From the very beginning,
I told what would happen
long before it took place.
I kept my word 11 and brought
someone from a distant land
to do what I wanted.
He attacked from the east,
like a hawk swooping down.
Now I will keep my promise
and do what I planned.
12 You people are stubborn
and far from being safe,
so listen to me.
13 I will soon come to save you.
I am not far away
and will waste no time;
I take pride in Israel
and will save Jerusalem.
The Bowls of God's Anger
16 From the temple I heard a voice shout to the seven angels, “Go and empty the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth.”
2 (A) The first angel emptied his bowl on the earth. At once ugly and painful sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol.
3 The second angel emptied his bowl on the sea. At once the sea turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 (B) The third angel emptied his bowl into the rivers and streams. At once they turned to blood. 5 Then I heard the angel, who has power over water, say,
“You have always been,
and you always will be
the holy God.
You had the right
to judge in this way.
6 They poured out the blood[a]
of your people
and your prophets.
So you gave them blood
to drink as they deserve!”
7 After this, I heard
the altar shout,
“Yes, Lord God All-Powerful,
your judgments are honest
and fair.”
8 The fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun, and it began to scorch people like fire. 9 Everyone was scorched by its great heat, and all of them cursed the name of God who had power over these terrible troubles. But no one turned to God and praised him.
10 (C) The fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast. At once darkness covered its kingdom, and its people began biting their tongues in pain. 11 And because of their painful sores, they cursed the God who rules in heaven. But still they did not stop doing evil things.
12 (D) The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it completely dried up to make a road for the kings from the east. 13 An evil spirit that looked like a frog came out of the mouth of the dragon. One also came out of the mouth of the beast, and another out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These evil spirits had the power to work miracles. They went to every king on earth, to bring them together for a war against God All-Powerful. But that will be the day of God's great victory.
15 (E) Remember Christ says, “When I come, it will surprise you like a thief! But God will bless you, if you are awake and ready. Then you won't have to walk around naked and be ashamed.”
16 (F) Those armies came together in a place that in Hebrew is called Armagedon.[b]
17 As soon as the seventh angel emptied his bowl in the air, a loud voice from the throne in the temple shouted, “It's done!” 18 (G) There were flashes of lightning, roars of thunder, and the worst earthquake in all history. 19 (H) The great city of Babylon split into three parts, and the cities of other nations fell. So God made Babylon drink from the wine cup filled with his anger. 20 (I) Every island ran away, and the mountains disappeared. 21 (J) Hailstones, weighing about 50 kilograms each, fell from the sky on people. Finally, the people cursed God, because the hail was so terrible.
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