M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord Will Drive Out Many Nations
7 The Lord your God will bring you into the land. You are going to enter it and take it as your own. He’ll drive out many nations to make room for you. He’ll drive out the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Those seven nations are larger and stronger than you are. 2 The Lord your God will hand them over to you. You will win the battle over them. You must completely destroy them. Don’t make a peace treaty with them. Don’t show them any mercy. 3 Don’t marry any of their people. Don’t give your daughters to their sons. And don’t take their daughters for your sons. 4 If you do, those people will turn your children away from serving the Lord. Then your children will serve other gods. The Lord will be very angry with you. He will quickly destroy you. 5 So here is what you must do to those people. Break down their altars. Smash their sacred stones. Cut down the poles they use to worship the female god named Asherah. Burn the statues of their gods in the fire. 6 You are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. He has chosen you to be his special treasure. He chose you out of all the nations on the face of the earth to be his people.
7 The Lord chose you because he loved you very much. He didn’t choose you because you had more people than other nations. In fact, you had the smallest number of all. 8 The Lord chose you because he loved you. He wanted to keep the promise he had made to your people of long ago. That’s why he used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt. He bought you back from the land where you were slaves. He set you free from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 9 So I want you to realize that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He keeps his covenant for all time to come. He keeps it with those who love him and obey his commandments. He shows them his love. 10 But he will pay back those who hate him. He’ll destroy them. He’ll quickly pay back those who hate him. 11 So be careful to obey the commands, rules and laws I’m giving you today.
12 Pay attention to the laws of the Lord your God. Be careful to obey them. Then he will keep his covenant of love with you. That’s what he promised to your people of long ago. 13 The Lord will love you and bless you. He’ll cause there to be many of you. He’ll give you many children. He’ll bless the crops of your land. He’ll give you plenty of grain, olive oil and fresh wine. He’ll bless your herds with many calves. He’ll give your flocks many lambs. He’ll do all these things for you in the land of Canaan. It’s the land he promised your people of long ago that he would give you. 14 He will bless you more than any other nation. All your men and women will have children. All your livestock will have little ones. 15 The Lord will keep you from getting sick. He won’t send on you any of the horrible sicknesses you saw all around you in Egypt. But he’ll send them on everyone who hates you. 16 You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t serve their gods. If you do, they will be a trap for you.
17 You might say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” 18 But don’t be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians. 19 With your own eyes you saw what the Lord did to them. You saw the signs and amazing things he did. He reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. The Lord your God used all those things to bring you out. You are now afraid of the nations that are in the land the Lord promised you. But the Lord your God will do to them the same things he did to Egypt. 20 The Lord your God will also send hornets among those nations. Some of the people left alive will hide from you. But even they will die. 21 So don’t be terrified by them. The Lord your God is with you. He is a great and wonderful God. 22 The Lord your God will drive out those nations to make room for you. But he will do it little by little. You won’t be allowed to get rid of them all at once. If you did, wild animals would multiply all around you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand those nations over to you. He will throw them into a panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you. You will wipe out their names from the earth. No one will be able to stand up against you. You will destroy them. 25 Burn the statues of their gods in the fire. Don’t wish for the silver and gold on those statues. Don’t take it for yourselves. If you do, it will be a trap for you. The Lord your God hates it. 26 Don’t bring anything he hates into your house. If you do, you will be completely destroyed along with it. So hate it with all your heart. It is set apart to be destroyed.
Book IV
Psalms 90–106
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, from the very beginning
you have been like a home to us.
2 Before you created the whole world and the mountains were made,
from the beginning to the end you are God.
3 You turn human beings back to dust.
You say to them, “Return to dust.”
4 To you a thousand years
are like a day that has just gone by.
They are like a few hours of the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away, and they die.
They are like new grass that grows in the morning.
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it’s all dried up.
7 Your anger destroys us.
Your burning anger terrifies us.
8 You have put our sins right in front of you.
You have placed our secret sins where you can see them clearly.
9 You have been angry with us all of our days.
We groan as we come to the end of our lives.
10 We live to be about 70.
Or we may live to be 80, if we stay healthy.
But even our best days are filled with trouble and sorrow.
The years quickly pass, and we are gone.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
It’s as great as the respect we should have for you.
12 Teach us to realize how short our lives are.
Then our hearts will become wise.
13 Lord, please stop punishing us!
How long will you keep it up?
Be kind to us.
14 Satisfy us with your faithful love every morning.
Then we can sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have made us suffer.
Give us joy for as many years as we’ve had trouble.
16 Show us your mighty acts.
Let our children see your glorious power.
17 May the Lord our God always be pleased with us.
Lord, make what we do succeed.
Please make what we do succeed.
The Joy of the Lord’s People
35 The desert and the dry ground will be glad.
The dry places will be full of joy.
Flowers will grow there.
Like the first crocus in the spring,
2 the desert will bloom with flowers.
It will be very glad and shout for joy.
The glorious beauty of Lebanon will be given to it.
It will be as beautiful as the rich lands
of Carmel and Sharon.
Everyone will see the glory of the Lord.
They will see the beauty of our God.
3 Strengthen the hands of those who are weak.
Help those whose knees give way.
4 Say to those whose hearts are afraid,
“Be strong and do not fear.
Your God will come.
He will pay your enemies back.
He will come to save you.”
5 Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened.
The ears of those who can’t hear will be unplugged.
6 Those who can’t walk will leap like a deer.
And those who can’t speak will shout for joy.
Water will pour out in dry places.
Streams will flow in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool of water.
The thirsty ground will become bubbling springs.
In the places where wild dogs once lay down,
tall grass and papyrus will grow.
8 A wide road will go through the land.
It will be called the Way of Holiness.
Only those who lead a holy life can use it.
“Unclean” and foolish people can’t walk on it.
9 No lions will use it.
No hungry wild animals will be on it.
None of them will be there.
Only people who have been set free will walk on it.
10 Those the Lord has saved will return to their land.
They will sing as they enter the city of Zion.
Joy that lasts forever will be
like beautiful crowns on their heads.
They will be filled with gladness and joy.
Sorrow and sighing will be gone.
The Scroll and the Lamb
5 Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. The scroll had writing on both sides. It was sealed with seven seals. 2 I saw a mighty angel calling out in a loud voice. He said, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll. No one could even look inside it. 4 I cried and cried. That’s because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not cry! The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle. He is the Root of David. He is able to break the seven seals and open the scroll.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if he had been put to death. He stood at the center of the area around the throne. The Lamb was surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes. The eyes stand for the seven spirits of God, which are sent out into all the earth. 7 The Lamb went and took the scroll. He took it from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 Then the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each one had a harp. They were holding golden bowls full of incense. They stand for the prayers of God’s people. 9 Here is the new song they sang.
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break open its seals.
You are worthy because you were put to death.
With your blood you bought people for God.
They come from every tribe, people and nation,
no matter what language they speak.
10 You have made them members of a royal family.
You have made them priests to serve our God.
They will rule on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of millions and millions of angels. They surrounded the throne. They surrounded the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying,
“The Lamb, who was put to death, is worthy!
He is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength!
He is worthy to receive honor and glory and praise!”
13 All creatures in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea were speaking. The whole creation was speaking. I heard all of them say,
“Praise and honor belong
to the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!
Glory and power belong to God for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
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