M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Idolatry Forbidden
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 Every one of you (B)shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep (C)My sabbaths; (D)I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to (E)idols or make for yourselves molten (F)gods; I am the Lord your God.
5 ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. 7 So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. 8 Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.
Sundry Laws
9 ‘(G)Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.
11 ‘(H)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, (I)nor lie to one another. 12 (J)You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to (K)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
13 ‘(L)You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. (M)The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse a deaf man, nor (N)place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.
15 ‘(O)You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 You shall not go about as (P)a slanderer among your people, and you are not to [a]act against the [b](Q)life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.
17 ‘You (R)shall not hate your [c]fellow countryman in your heart; you (S)may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18 (T)You shall not take vengeance, (U)nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but (V)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
19 ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; (W)you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.
20 ‘(X)Now if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free. 21 He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting, (Y)a ram for a guilt offering. 22 The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.
23 ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as [d]forbidden. Three years it shall be [e]forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 In the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.
26 ‘You shall not eat anything (Z)with the blood, nor practice (AA)divination or soothsaying. 27 (AB)You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts in your [f]body for the [g]dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.
29 ‘(AC)Do not [h]profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. 30 You shall (AD)keep My sabbaths and (AE)revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.
31 ‘Do not turn to [i](AF)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
32 ‘(AG)You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the [j]aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.
33 ‘(AH)When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and (AI)you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
35 ‘(AJ)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. 36 You shall have (AK)just balances, just weights, a just [k]ephah, and a just [l]hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord.’”
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my (A)shepherd,
I [a]shall (B)not want.
2 He makes me lie down in (C)green pastures;
He (D)leads me beside [b](E)quiet waters.
3 He (F)restores my soul;
He (G)guides me in the [c](H)paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I (I)walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death,
I (J)fear no [e]evil, for (K)You are with me;
Your (L)rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You (M)prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You [f]have (N)anointed my head with oil;
My (O)cup overflows.
6 [g]Surely (P)goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will [h](Q)dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.
The King of Glory Entering Zion.
A Psalm of David.
24 The (R)earth is the Lord’s, and [j]all it contains,
The (S)world, and those who dwell in it.
2 For He has (T)founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.
3 Who may (U)ascend into the (V)hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy (W)place?
4 He who has (X)clean hands and a (Y)pure heart,
Who has not (Z)lifted up his soul [k]to falsehood
And has not (AA)sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive a (AB)blessing from the Lord
And [l](AC)righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 [m]This is the generation of those who (AD)seek Him,
Who seek Your face—even Jacob. [n]Selah.
7 (AE)Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O [o]ancient doors,
That the King of (AF)glory may come in!
8 Who is the King of glory?
The Lord (AG)strong and mighty,
The Lord (AH)mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift them up, O [p]ancient doors,
That the King of (AI)glory may come in!
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of (AJ)hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah.
The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions
2 I said [a]to myself, “Come now, I will test you with (A)pleasure. So [b]enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. 2 (B)I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I explored with my [c]mind how to (C)stimulate my body with wine while my [d]mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of (D)folly, until I could see (E)what good there is for the sons of men [e]to do under heaven the few [f]years of their lives. 4 I enlarged my works: I (F)built houses for myself, I planted (G)vineyards for myself; 5 I made (H)gardens and (I)parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; 6 I made (J)ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and I had [g](K)homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and (L)herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. 8 Also, I collected for myself silver and (M)gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself (N)male and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.
9 Then I became (O)great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. 10 (P)All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my (Q)reward for all my labor. 11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had [h]exerted, and behold all was [i](R)vanity and striving after wind and there was (S)no profit under the sun.
Wisdom Excels Folly
12 So I turned to (T)consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except (U)what has already been done? 13 And I saw that (V)wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the (W)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that (X)one fate befalls them both. 15 Then I said [j]to myself, “(Y)As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. (Z)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So [k]I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” 16 For there is (AA)no [l]lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And (AB)how the wise man and the fool alike die! 17 So I (AC)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was [m]grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
The Futility of Labor
18 Thus I hated (AD)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must (AE)leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or (AF)a fool? Yet he will have [n]control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is (AG)vanity. 20 Therefore I [o]completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and (AH)skill, then he (AI)gives his [p]legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what does a man get in (AJ)all his labor and in [q]his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his task is painful and (AK)grievous; even at night his [r]mind (AL)does not rest. This too is vanity.
24 There is (AM)nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and [s]tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is (AN)from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without [t]Him? 26 For to a person who is good in His sight (AO)He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may (AP)give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is (AQ)vanity and striving after wind.
Apostasy
4 But (A)the Spirit explicitly says that (B)in later times some will [a]fall away from the faith, paying attention to (C)deceitful spirits and (D)doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars (E)seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who (F)forbid marriage and advocate (G)abstaining from foods which (H)God has created to be (I)gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For (J)everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is (K)received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of (L)the word of God and prayer.
A Good Minister’s Discipline
6 In pointing out these things to (M)the brethren, you will be a good (N)servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the [b](O)sound doctrine which you (P)have been following. 7 But [c]have nothing to do with (Q)worldly (R)fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of (S)godliness; 8 for (T)bodily discipline is only of little profit, but (U)godliness is profitable for all things, since it (V)holds promise for the (W)present life and also for the life to come. 9 (X)It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. 10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed (Y)our hope on (Z)the living God, who is (AA)the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
11 [d](AB)Prescribe and teach these things. 12 (AC)Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, (AD)love, faith and purity, show yourself (AE)an example [e]of those who believe. 13 (AF)Until I come, give attention to the public (AG)reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through (AH)prophetic utterance with (AI)the laying on of hands by the [f](AJ)presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 (AK)Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will [g](AL)ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.