M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love the Lord your God. Do what he requires. Always obey his rules, laws and commands. ² Remember today that your children weren’t the ones the Lord your God guided and corrected. They didn’t see his majesty. They weren’t in Egypt when he reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. ³ They didn’t see the signs and the other things he did in Egypt. They didn’t see what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. ⁴ They weren’t there when the Lord destroyed the army of Egypt and its horses and chariots. He swept the waters of the Red Sea over the Egyptians while they were chasing you. He wiped them out forever. ⁵ Your children didn’t see what he did for you in the desert before you arrived here. ⁶ They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. Eliab was from the tribe of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth right in the middle of the Israelite camp. It swallowed up Dathan and Abiram. It swallowed them up together with their families, tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷ But with your own eyes you saw all the great things the Lord has done.

⁸ So obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will be strong enough to go in and take over the land. You will go across the Jordan River and take the land as your own. ⁹ You will live there for a long time. It’s the land the Lord promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children after them. He gave his word when he made that promise. The land has plenty of milk and honey. ¹⁰ You will enter it and take it over. It isn’t like the land of Egypt. That’s where you came from. You planted your seeds there. You had to water them, just as you have to water a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But you will soon go across the Jordan River. The land you are going to take over has mountains and valleys in it. It drinks rain from heaven. ¹² It’s a land the Lord your God takes care of. His eyes always look on it with favor. He watches over it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³ So be faithful. Obey the commands the Lord your God is giving you today. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁴ Then the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time. He’ll send rain in the fall and in the spring. You will be able to gather your grain. You will also be able to make olive oil and fresh wine. ¹⁵ He’ll provide grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.

¹⁶ But be careful. Don’t let anyone tempt you to do something wrong. Don’t turn away and worship other gods. Don’t bow down to them. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord will be very angry with you. He’ll close up the sky. It won’t rain. The ground won’t produce its crops. Soon you will die. You won’t live to enjoy the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates. ²¹ Then you and your children will live for a long time in the land. The Lord promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your family line will continue as long as the heavens remain above the earth.

²² So be careful. Obey all the commands I’m giving you to follow. Love the Lord your God. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Remain true to him. ²³ Then the Lord will drive out all the nations to make room for you. They are larger and stronger than you are. But you will take their land. ²⁴ Every place you walk on will belong to you. Your territory will go all the way from the desert to Lebanon. It will go from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you. The Lord your God will throw the whole land into a panic because of you. He’ll do it everywhere you go, just as he promised you.

²⁶ Listen to me. I’m setting a blessing and a curse in front of you today. ²⁷ I’m giving you the commands of the Lord your God today. You will be blessed if you obey them. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you don’t obey them. So don’t turn away from the path I’m now commanding you to take. Don’t turn away by worshiping other gods you didn’t know before. ²⁹ The Lord your God will bring you into the land to take it over. When he does, you must announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. You must announce the curses from Mount Ebal. ³⁰ As you know, those mountains are across the Jordan River. They are on the west side of the Jordan toward the setting sun. They are near the large trees of Moreh. The mountains are in the territory of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah Valley near Gilgal. ³¹ You are about to go across the Jordan River. You will enter the land and take it over. The Lord your God is giving it to you. You will take it over and live there. ³² When you do, make sure you obey all the rules and laws I’m giving you today.

Messengers Come From Babylon to Hezekiah

39 At that time Marduk-Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah letters and a gift. He had heard that Hezekiah had been sick but had gotten well again. Marduk-Baladan was the son of Baladan. ² Hezekiah gladly received the messengers. He showed them what was in his storerooms. He showed them the silver and gold. He took them to where the spices and the fine olive oil were kept. He showed them where he kept all his weapons. And he showed them all his treasures. In fact, he showed them everything that was in his palace and in his whole kingdom.

³ Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah. Isaiah asked him, “What did those men say? Where did they come from?”

“They came from a land far away,” Hezekiah said. “They came to me from Babylon.”

⁴ Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “I showed them all my treasures.”

⁵ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the message of the Lord who rules over all. He says, ⁶ ‘You can be sure the time will come when everything in your palace will be carried off to Babylon. Everything the kings before you have stored up until this day will be taken away. There will not be anything left,’ says the Lord. ⁷ ‘Some of the members of your family line will be taken away. They will be your own flesh and blood. They will include the children who will be born into your family line. And they will serve the king of Babylon in his palace.’ ”

⁸ “The message the Lord has spoken through you is good,” Hezekiah replied. He thought, “There will be peace and safety while I’m still living.”

9 The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the tunnel leading down into a bottomless pit. The pit was called the Abyss. ² The star opened the Abyss. Then smoke rose up from it like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. ³ Out of the smoke came locusts. They came down on the earth. They were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree. They were supposed to harm only the people without God’s official seal on their foreheads. ⁵ The locusts were not allowed to kill these people. But the locusts could hurt them over and over for five months. The pain the people suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ In those days, people will look for a way to die but won’t find it. They will want to die, but death will escape them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ Their chests were covered with something that looked like armor made out of iron. The sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails that could sting people like scorpions do. And in their tails they had power to hurt people over and over for five months. ¹¹ Their king was the angel of the Abyss. In the Hebrew language his name is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon. His name means Destroyer.

¹² The first terrible judgment is past. Two others are still coming.

¹³ The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the four corners of the golden altar. The altar stands in front of God. ¹⁴ The voice spoke to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. The voice said, “Set the four angels free who are held at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ The four angels had been ready for this very hour and day and month and year. They were set free to kill a third of all people. ¹⁶ The number of troops on horseback was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.

¹⁷ The horses and riders I saw in my vision had armor on their chests. It was red like fire, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of the horses’ mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.

²⁰ There were people who were not killed by these plagues. But they still didn’t turn away from what they had been doing. They did not stop worshiping demons. They kept worshiping statues of gods made out of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. These statues can’t see or hear or walk. ²¹ The people also did not turn away from their murders, witchcraft, sexual sins and stealing.