M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols^(A) or set up an image^(B) or a sacred stone^(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone^(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

² “‘Observe my Sabbaths^(E) and have reverence for my sanctuary.^(F) I am the Lord.

³ “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey^(G) my commands, ⁴ I will send you rain^(H) in its season,^(I) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.^{(J) 5} Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want^(K) and live in safety in your land.^(L)

⁶ “‘I will grant peace in the land,^(M) and you will lie down^(N) and no one will make you afraid.^(O) I will remove wild beasts^(P) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies,^(Q) and they will fall by the sword before you. ⁸ Five^(R) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.^(S)

⁹ “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,^(T) and I will keep my covenant^(U) with you. ¹⁰ You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.^{(V) 11} I will put my dwelling place^[a](W) among you, and I will not abhor you.^{(X) 12} I will walk^(Y) among you and be your God,^(Z) and you will be my people.^{(AA) 13} I am the Lord your God,^(AB) who brought you out of Egypt^(AC) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke^(AD) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

¹⁴ “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,^{(AE) 15} and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws^(AF) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,^{(AG) 16} then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever^(AH) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.^(AI) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.^{(AJ) 17} I will set my face^(AK) against you so that you will be defeated^(AL) by your enemies;^(AM) those who hate you will rule over you,^(AN) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.^(AO)

¹⁸ “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,^(AP) I will punish^(AQ) you for your sins seven times over.^{(AR) 19} I will break down your stubborn pride^(AS) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.^{(AT) 20} Your strength will be spent in vain,^(AU) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.^(AV)

²¹ “‘If you remain hostile^(AW) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,^(AX) as your sins deserve. ²² I will send wild animals^(AY) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few^(AZ) in number that your roads will be deserted.^(BA)

²³ “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction^(BB) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁴ I myself will be hostile^(BC) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. ²⁵ And I will bring the sword^(BD) on you to avenge^(BE) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague^(BF) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. ²⁶ When I cut off your supply of bread,^(BG) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

²⁷ “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me^(BH) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁸ then in my anger^(BI) I will be hostile^(BJ) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.^{(BK) 29} You will eat^(BL) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.^{(BM) 30} I will destroy your high places,^(BN) cut down your incense altars^(BO) and pile your dead bodies^[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols,^(BP) and I will abhor^(BQ) you. ³¹ I will turn your cities into ruins^(BR) and lay waste^(BS) your sanctuaries,^(BT) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.^{(BU) 32} I myself will lay waste the land,^(BV) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.^{(BW) 33} I will scatter^(BX) you among the nations^(BY) and will draw out my sword^(BZ) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,^(CA) and your cities will lie in ruins.^{(CB) 34} Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate^(CC) and you are in the country of your enemies;^(CD) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ³⁵ All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest^(CE) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

³⁶ “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf^(CF) will put them to flight.^(CG) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.^{(CH) 37} They will stumble over one another^(CI) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.^{(CJ) 38} You will perish^(CK) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.^{(CL) 39} Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’^(CM) sins they will waste away.^(CN)

⁴⁰ “‘But if they will confess^(CO) their sins^(CP) and the sins of their ancestors^(CQ)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, ⁴¹ which made me hostile^(CR) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts^(CS) are humbled^(CT) and they pay^(CU) for their sin, ⁴² I will remember my covenant with Jacob^(CV) and my covenant with Isaac^(CW) and my covenant with Abraham,^(CX) and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will be deserted^(CY) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected^(CZ) my laws and abhorred my decrees.^{(DA) 44} Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,^(DB) I will not reject them or abhor^(DC) them so as to destroy them completely,^(DD) breaking my covenant^(DE) with them. I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But for their sake I will remember^(DF) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt^(DG) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁶ These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai^(DH) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.^(DI)

Psalm 33

A Common Destiny for All

9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.^{(A) 2} All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

³ This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.^(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,^(D) and afterward they join the dead.^{(E) 4} Anyone who is among the living has hope^[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁷ Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine^(J) with a joyful heart,^(K) for God has already approved what you do. ⁸ Always be clothed in white,^(L) and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹ Enjoy life with your wife,^(M) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot^(N) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever^(O) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,^(P) for in the realm of the dead,^(Q) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.^(R)

¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun:

¹² Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

Wisdom Better Than Folly

¹³ I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom^(Y) that greatly impressed me: ¹⁴ There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. ¹⁵ Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.^{(Z) 16} So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.^(AA)

1 Paul, a servant of God^(A) and an apostle^(B) of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth^(C) that leads to godliness^(D)— ² in the hope of eternal life,^(E) which God, who does not lie,^(F) promised before the beginning of time,^{(G) 3} and which now at his appointed season^(H) he has brought to light^(I) through the preaching entrusted to me^(J) by the command of God^(K) our Savior,^(L)

⁴ To Titus,^(M) my true son^(N) in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.^(O)

Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good^(P)

⁵ The reason I left you in Crete^(Q) was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint^[a] elders^(R) in every town, as I directed you. ⁶ An elder must be blameless,^(S) faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe^[b] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. ⁷ Since an overseer^(T) manages God’s household,^(U) he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.^{(V) 8} Rather, he must be hospitable,^(W) one who loves what is good,^(X) who is self-controlled,^(Y) upright, holy and disciplined. ⁹ He must hold firmly^(Z) to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine^(AA) and refute those who oppose it.

Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good

¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk^(AB) and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.^{(AC) 11} They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households^(AD) by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. ¹² One of Crete’s own prophets^(AE) has said it: “Cretans^(AF) are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”^{[c] 13} This saying is true. Therefore rebuke^(AG) them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith^{(AH) 14} and will pay no attention to Jewish myths^(AI) or to the merely human commands^(AJ) of those who reject the truth.^{(AK) 15} To the pure, all things are pure,^(AL) but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.^(AM) In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.^{(AN) 16} They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.^(AO) They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.^(AP)