M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Special Promises
30 Moses spoke with the leaders of the Israelite tribes. He told them these commands from the Lord.
2 “A person might make a promise to the Lord. He might promise to do something special. If he does, he must keep his promise. He must do what he said. 3 A young woman still living at home might make a promise to the Lord. She might pledge to do something special. 4 Her father might hear about the promise or pledge and say nothing. Then she must do what she promised. She must keep her pledge. 5 But when her father hears about the promise or pledge, he might not allow it. Then the promise or pledge does not have to be kept. Her father would not allow them. So the Lord will free her from her promise.
6 “A woman might make a pledge or a careless promise and then get married. 7 Her husband might hear about it and say nothing. Then she must keep her promise or the pledge she made. 8 But when her husband hears about it, he might not allow it. He cancels her pledge or the careless promise she made. The Lord will free her from keeping it.
9 “A widow or divorced woman might make a promise. She must do whatever she promised.
10 “A woman might make a promise or pledge while she was married. 11 When her husband hears about it, he might say nothing. He might not stop her. Then she must keep her promise or pledge. 12 But when her husband hears about it, he might cancel it. Then she does not have to do what she said. Her husband has canceled it. The Lord will free her from it. 13 A woman’s husband may make her keep or cancel any promise or pledge she has made. 14 But her husband might say nothing to her about it for several days. Then she must keep her promises. If he hears about them and says nothing, she must keep her promises. 15 But he might cancel them long after he heard about them. Then he is responsible if she breaks her promise.”
16 These are commands that the Lord gave to Moses. They are for husbands and wives. And they are for fathers with daughters living at home.
A Nation in Trouble Prays
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you rejected us for so long?
Why are you angry with us, the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the people you bought long ago.
You saved us. We are your very own.
You live on Mount Zion.
3 Make your way through these old ruins.
The enemy wrecked everything in the Temple.
4 Those who were against you shouted in your meeting place.
They raised their flags there.
5 They came with axes raised
as if to cut down a forest of trees.
6 They smashed the carved panels
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your Temple to the ground.
They have made the place where you live unclean.
8 They thought, “We will completely crush them!”
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We do not see any signs.
There are no more prophets.
And no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of you?
Will they insult you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your power?
Bring your power out in the open and destroy them!
12 God, you have been our king for a long time.
You have saved this country.
13 You split open the sea by your power.
You broke the heads of the sea monster.
14 You smashed the heads of the monster Leviathan.
You gave him to the desert creatures as food.
15 You opened up the springs and streams.
And you made the rivers run dry.
16 Both the day and the night are yours.
You made the sun and the moon.
17 You made all the limits on the earth.
You created summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember how the enemy insulted you.
Remember how those foolish people turned away from you.
19 Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor people.
20 Remember the agreement you made with us
because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
21 Do not let your suffering people be disgraced.
The poor and helpless people praise you.
22 God, come and defend yourself.
Remember the insults that come from those foolish people all day long.
23 Don’t forget what your enemies said.
Don’t forget their roar as they rise against you always.
God’s Message to Jerusalem
22 The message about the Valley of Vision:[a]
What is wrong with you people?
Why are you on your roofs?[b]
2 This city was a very busy city.
It was full of noise and wild parties.
But your people have been killed,
but not with swords.
They did not die in battle.
3 All your leaders ran away together.
But they all have been captured without using a bow.
All you who were captured
tried to run away before the enemy came near.
4 So I say, “Don’t look at me.
Let me cry loudly.
Don’t hurry to comfort me
about the destruction of Jerusalem.”
5 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, has chosen a special day.
There will be riots and confusion.
People will trample each other in the Valley of Vision.
The city walls will be knocked down.
The people will cry out to the mountain.
6 The soldiers from Elam will take their bags of arrows.
Men in chariots and on horses will attack.
Kir will prepare their shields.
7 Your nicest valleys will be filled with chariots.
Horsemen will be ordered to guard the gates of the city.
8 The walls protecting Judah will fall.
At that time the people of Jerusalem depended on
the weapons kept at the Palace of the Forest.
9 You saw that the walls of Jerusalem
had many cracks that needed repairing.
You stored up water in the lower pool.
10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem.
You tore them down to fix the walls with their stones.
11 You made a pool between the two walls.
It was to save water from the old pool.
But you did not trust the God who made these things.
You did not respect the One who planned them long ago.
12 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, told the people
to cry and be sad.
He told them to shave their heads and wear rough cloth.
13 But look. The people are happy.
There are wild parties.
They kill the cattle and the sheep.
They eat the food and drink the wine.
They say, “Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we will die.”
14 The Lord of heaven’s armies said to me: “You people will die before this guilt is forgiven.” The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, said this.
God’s Message to Shebna
15 This is what the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, says:
“Go to this servant Shebna.
He is the manager of the palace.
16 Say to him, ‘What are you doing here?
Who said you could cut out a tomb for yourself here?
Why are you preparing your tomb in a high place?
Why are you carving out a tomb from the rock?
17 Look, mighty man! The Lord will throw you away.
He will take firm hold of you.
18 He will roll you tightly into a ball
and throw you into another country.
There you will die.
Your fine chariots will remain there.
You are a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will force you out of your important job here.
You will be thrown down from your important place.’
20 “At that time I will call for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will take your robe and put it on him. I will give him your belt. I will give him the important job you have. He will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and the family of Judah. 22 I will put the key to the house of David around his neck. If he opens a door, no one will be able to close it. If he closes a door, no one will be able to open it. 23 He will be like an honored chair in his father’s house. I will make him strong like a peg that is hammered into a strong board. 24 All the honored and important things of his family will depend on him. All the adults and little children will depend on him. They will be like bowls and jars hanging on him.
25 “At that time,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies, “the peg hammered into the strong board will weaken. It will break and fall. And everything hanging on it will be destroyed.” The Lord says this.
Jesus Will Come Again
3 My friends, this is the second letter I have written to you. I wrote both letters to you to help your honest minds remember something. 2 I want you to remember the words that the holy prophets spoke in the past. And remember the command that our Lord and Savior gave us through your apostles. 3 It is important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live doing the evil things they want to do. 4 They will say, “Jesus promised to come again. Where is he? Our fathers have died. But the world continues the way it has been since it was made.” 5 But they do not want to remember what happened long ago. God spoke and made heaven and earth. He made the earth from water and with water. 6 Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water. 7 And that same word of God is keeping heaven and earth that we have now. They are being kept to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the Judgment Day and the destruction of all who are against God.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change his heart and life.
10 But the day the Lord comes again will be a surprise, like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in the skies will be destroyed by fire. And the earth and everything in it will be exposed.[a] 11 In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God. 12 You should wait for the day of God and look forward to its coming. When that day comes, the skies will be destroyed with fire, and everything in the skies will melt with heat. 13 But God made a promise to us. And we are waiting for what he promised—a new heaven and a new earth where goodness lives.
14 Dear friends, we are waiting for this to happen. So try as hard as you can to be without sin and without fault. Try to be at peace with God. 15 Remember that we are saved because our Lord is patient. Our dear brother Paul told you the same thing when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 Paul writes about this in all his letters. Sometimes there are things in Paul’s letters that are hard to understand. And some people explain these things falsely. They are ignorant and weak in faith. They also falsely explain the other Scriptures. But they are destroying themselves by doing that.
17 Dear friends, you already know about this. So be careful. Do not let those evil people lead you away by the wrong they do. Be careful so that you will not fall from your own strong faith. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory be to him now and forever! Amen.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.