M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Place for Worship
12 These are the commands and laws you must carefully obey in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Obey them as long as you live in the land. 2 You will inherit the lands of these nations. You must completely destroy all the places where they serve their gods. These places are on high mountains and hills and under every green tree. 3 Tear down their altars. Smash their holy stone pillars. Burn their Asherah idols. Cut down their idols. Destroy their names from those places.
4 Don’t worship the Lord your God that way. 5 But look for the place the Lord your God will choose. He will choose a place among your tribes where he is to be worshiped. Go there. 6 Bring to that place your burnt offerings and sacrifices. Bring a tenth of what you gain and your special gifts. Bring what you have promised and the special gifts you want to give the Lord. And bring the first animals born to your herds and flocks.
7 There you will be together with the Lord your God. There you and your families will eat. And you will enjoy all the good things for which you have worked. The Lord your God has blessed you.
8 Do not worship the way we have been doing today. Each person does what he thinks is right. 9 You have not yet come to a resting place. The Lord your God will give you your own land. 10 But you will soon cross the Jordan River. And you will live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And he will give you rest from all your enemies. You will live in safety. 11 Then the Lord your God will choose a place where he is to be worshiped. To that place you must bring everything I tell you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your offerings of a tenth of what you gain, your special gifts and all your best things you promised to the Lord. 12 There rejoice before the Lord your God. Everyone should rejoice: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no land of their own. 13 Be careful. Don’t sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you please. 14 Offer them only in the place the Lord will choose. He will choose a place in one of your tribes. And there you must do everything I am commanding you.
15 But you may kill your animals in any of your towns. And you may eat as much of the meat as you want. Eat it as if it were a deer or a gazelle. This is the blessing the Lord your God is giving you. Anyone, clean or unclean, may eat this meat. 16 But do not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. 17 Do not eat in your own towns what belongs to the Lord: one-tenth of your grain, new wine or oil; the first animals born to your herds or flocks; whatever you have promised to give; the special gifts you want to give to the Lord, or any other gifts. 18 Eat these things when you are together with the Lord. Eat them in the place the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped. Everyone must do this: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns. Rejoice in the Lord’s presence about the things you have worked for. 19 Be careful not to forget the Levites as long as you live in the land.
20 The Lord your God will enlarge your country as he has promised. And you will want some meat. You will say, “I want some meat.” Eat as much meat as you want. 21 The Lord your God will choose a place where he is to be worshiped. But it may be too far away from you. If it is, you may kill animals from your herds and flocks. The Lord has given them to you. I have commanded that you may do this. You may eat as much of them as you want in your own towns. 22 Eat them as you would eat gazelle or deer meat. Both clean and unclean people may eat this meat. 23 But be sure you don’t eat the blood. The life is in the blood. Don’t eat the life with the meat. 24 Don’t eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. 25 Don’t eat it. Then things will go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.
26 Take your holy things and the things you have promised to give. And go to the place the Lord will choose. 27 Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. Offer both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices should be poured beside the altar. But you may eat the meat. 28 Be careful to obey all the rules I am giving you. Then things will always go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord your God says is good and right.
29 You will enter the land and take it away from the nations there. The Lord your God will destroy those nations ahead of you. You will force them out and live in their land. 30 They will be destroyed for you. Be careful not to be trapped by asking about their gods. Don’t say, “How do these nations worship? I will do the same.” 31 Don’t worship the Lord your God that way. The Lord hates the evil ways they worship their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods!
32 Be sure to do everything I have commanded you. Do not add anything to it. And do not take anything away from it.
A Hymn About God’s Power
97 The Lord is king. Let the earth rejoice.
Faraway lands should be glad.
2 Thick, dark clouds surround him.
His kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
3 A fire goes before him
and burns up his enemies all around.
4 His lightning flashes in the sky.
When the people see it, they tremble.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord.
He is Lord of all the earth.
6 The skies tell about his goodness.
And all the people see his glory.
7 Those who worship idols should be ashamed.
They brag about their false gods.
All the gods should worship the Lord.
8 When Jerusalem hears this, she is glad.
The towns of Judah rejoice.
They are happy because of your judgments, Lord.
9 You are the Lord Most High over all the earth.
You are supreme over all gods.
10 People who love the Lord should hate evil.
The Lord watches over those who follow him.
He frees them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light shines on those who do right.
Joy belongs to those who are honest.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who do right.
Praise his holy name.
The God of Power and Justice
A song.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song
because he has done miracles.
By his right hand and holy arm
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has told about his power to save.
He has shown the other nations his victory for his people.
3 He has remembered his love
and his loyalty to the people of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
God’s power to save.
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Burst into songs and praise.
5 Make music to the Lord with harps,
with harps and the sound of singing.
6 Blow the trumpets and the sheep’s horns.
Shout for joy to the Lord the King.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout.
Let the world and everyone on it sing.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the mountains sing together for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world fairly.
He will judge the nations with fairness.
Israel’s Punishment Will End
40 Your God says,
“Comfort, comfort my people.
2 Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem.
Tell them
that their time of service is finished.
Tell them that they have paid for their sins.
Tell them that the Lord has punished Jerusalem
twice for every sin they did.”
3 This is the voice of a man who calls out:
“Prepare in the desert
the way for the Lord.
Make the road in the dry lands
straight for our God.
4 Every valley should be raised up.
Every mountain and hill should be made flat.
The rough ground should be made level.
The rugged ground should be made smooth.
5 Then the glory of the Lord will be shown.
All people together will see it.
The Lord himself said these things.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Then I said, “What shall I cry out?”
“Say all people are like the grass.
And all their strength is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass dies, and the flowers fall.
This is because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are like grass.
8 The grass dies, and the flowers fall.
But the word of our God will live forever.”
9 Jerusalem, you have good news to tell.
Go up on a high mountain.
Jerusalem, you have good news to tell.
Shout out loud the good news.
Shout it out and don’t be afraid.
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God.”
10 Look, the Lord God is coming with power.
He will use his power to rule all the people.
Look, he will bring reward for his people.
He will have their payment with him.
11 The Lord takes care of his people like a shepherd.
He gathers the people like lambs in his arms.
He carries them close to him.
He gently leads the mothers of the lambs.
God Is Supreme
12 Who has measured the oceans in the palm of his hand?
Who has used his hand to measure the sky?
Who has used a bowl to measure all the dust of the earth?
Who has used scales to weigh the mountains and hills?
13 Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has been able to give the Lord advice?
14 Whom did the Lord ask for help?
Who taught him the right way?
Who taught the Lord knowledge?
Who showed him the way to understanding?
15 The nations are like one small drop in a bucket.
They are no more than the dust on his measuring scales.
To him the islands are no more than fine dust on his scales.
16 All the trees in Lebanon are not enough for the altar fires.
And all the animals in Lebanon are not enough for burnt offerings.
17 Compared to the Lord all the nations are worth nothing.
To him they are less than nothing.
18 Can you compare God to anything?
Can you compare him to an image of anything?
19 An idol is formed by a man.
And another man covers it with gold.
And he makes silver chains for it.
20 A poor man cannot buy those expensive statues.
So he finds a tree that will not rot.
And he finds a skilled workman
to make it into an idol that will not fall over.
21 Surely you know. Surely you have heard.
Surely in the beginning someone told you.
Surely you understand how the earth was created.
22 God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth.
And compared to him, people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the skies like a piece of cloth.
He spreads them out like a tent to sit under.
23 He makes rulers unimportant.
He makes the judges of this world worth nothing.
24 They are like plants that are placed in the ground.
They are like seeds that are planted.
As soon as they begin to grow strong,
he blows on them and they die.
The wind blows them away like chaff.
25 God, the Holy One, says, “Can you compare me to anyone?
Is anyone equal to me?”
26 Look up to the skies.
Who created all these stars?
He leads out all the army of heaven one by one.
He calls all the stars by name.
He is very strong and full of power.
So not one of them is missing.
27 People of Jacob, why do you complain?
People of Israel, why do you say,
“The Lord does not see what happens to me.
He does not care if I am treated fairly”?
28 Surely you know.
Surely you have heard.
The Lord is the God who lives forever.
He created all the world.
He does not become tired or need to rest.
No one can understand how great his wisdom is.
29 The Lord gives strength to those who are tired.
He gives more power to those who are weak.
30 Even boys become tired and need to rest.
Even young men trip and fall.
31 But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again.
They will be able to rise up as an eagle in the sky.
They will run without needing rest.
They will walk without becoming tired.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
10 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud and had a rainbow around his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like poles of fire. 2 The angel was holding a small scroll open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 He shouted loudly like the roaring of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of seven thunders spoke. 4 The seven thunders spoke, and I started to write. But then I heard a voice from heaven. The voice said, “Do not write what the seven thunders said. Keep these things secret.”
5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 He made a promise by the power of the One who lives forever and ever. He is the One who made the skies and all that is in them. He made the earth and all that is in it, and he made the sea and all that is in it. The angel said, “There will be no more waiting! 7 In the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan will be finished. This plan is the Good News God told to his servants, the prophets.”
8 Then I heard the same voice from heaven again. The voice said to me, “Go and take the open scroll that is in the angel’s hand. This is the angel that is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will be sour in your stomach. But in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and I ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet as honey. But after I ate it, it was sour in my stomach. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.