M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord’s People
23 No man who has had part of his sex organ cut off may come into the worship meeting of the Lord’s people.
2 No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. His descendants for ten generations may not come in either.
3 No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. 4 This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam to put a curse on you. He was the son of Beor from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you. The Lord your God loves you. 6 Don’t wish for their peace or success as long as you live.
7 Don’t hate Edomites. They are your relatives. Don’t hate Egyptians, because you were foreigners in their country. 8 The great-grandchildren of these two peoples may come into the meeting to worship the Lord.
Keeping the Camp Clean
9 When you are camped in time of war, keep away from unclean things. 10 A man might become unclean during the night. If he does, he must go outside the camp and not come back. 11 But when evening comes, he must wash himself. At sunset he may come back into the camp.
12 Choose a place outside the camp where people may go to relieve themselves. 13 Carry a stick with you. When you relieve yourself, dig a hole. Cover up your dung. 14 The Lord your God moves around through your camp. He will protect you. He will help you defeat your enemies. So the camp must be holy. The Lord must not see anything unclean among you. Then he will not leave you.
Other Laws
15 An escaped slave might come to you. Do not hand him over to his master. 16 Let the slave live with you anywhere he likes. He may live in any town he chooses. Do not mistreat him.
17 No Israelite man or woman must ever become a temple prostitute. 18 Do not bring a male or female prostitute’s pay to the Temple of the Lord your God to pay what you have promised to the Lord. The Lord your God hates prostitution.
19 You may loan your fellow Israelite money or food or anything else. But don’t make him pay back more than what you loaned him. 20 You may charge a foreigner, but not a fellow Israelite. Then the Lord your God will bless everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
21 You might make a promise to give something to the Lord your God. Do not be slow to pay it. The Lord your God demands it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. 22 But if you do not make the promise, you will not be guilty. 23 You must do whatever you say you will do. You chose to make the promise to the Lord your God.
24 You might go into your neighbor’s vineyard. You may eat as many grapes as you wish. But do not fill your basket with his grapes. 25 You might go into your neighbor’s grainfield. You may pick grain with your hands. But you must not cut down his grain with your sickle.
Honest People Are Blessed
112 Praise the Lord!
Happy is the person who fears the Lord.
He loves what the Lord commands.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land.
The children of honest people will be blessed.
3 His house will be full of wealth and riches.
His goodness will continue forever.
4 A light shines in the dark for honest people.
It shines for those who are good and kind and merciful.
5 It is good to be kind and generous.
Whoever is fair in his business
6 will never be defeated.
A good person will be remembered from now on.
7 He won’t be afraid of bad news.
He is safe because he trusts the Lord.
8 That person is confident. He will not be afraid.
He will look down on his enemies.
9 He gives freely to the poor.
The things he does are right and will continue forever.
He will be given great honor.
10 The wicked will see this and become angry.
They will grind their teeth in anger and then disappear.
The wishes of the wicked will come to nothing.
Praise for God’s Kindness
113 Praise the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
2 The Lord’s name should be praised
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name should be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
4 The Lord is supreme over all the nations.
His glory reaches to the skies.
5 No one is like the Lord our God.
He rules from heaven.
6 He bends down to look
at the skies and the earth.
7 The Lord lifts the poor from the dirt.
He takes the helpless from the ashes.
8 And he seats them with princes,
the princes of his people.
9 He gives children to the woman who has none.
He makes her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!
Israel Was Punished for Its Sin
50 This is what the Lord says:
“People of Israel, you say I divorced your mother.
Then where is the paper that proves it?
Or do you think I sold you to pay a debt?
No! It was because of the evil things you did that I sold you.
It was because of the times she turned against me that your mother was sent away.
2 I came home and found no one there.
I called, but no one answered.
Do you think I am not able to save you?
Do I not have the power to save you?
Look, I need only to shout, and the sea becomes dry.
I change rivers into a desert.
Their fish rot because there is no water.
The fish die of thirst.
3 I can make the skies dark.
I can make them black like clothes of sadness.”
God’s Servant Obeys
4 The Lord God gave me the ability to teach.
He has taught me what to say to make the weak strong.
Every morning he wakes me.
He teaches me to listen like a student.
5 The Lord God helps me learn.
And I have not turned against him.
I have not stopped following him.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me.
I offered my cheeks to those who pulled my beard.
I won’t hide my face from them
when they make fun of me and spit at me.
7 The Lord God helps me.
So I will not be ashamed.
I will be determined.
I know I will not be disgraced.
8 The Lord shows that I am innocent, and he is close to me.
So who can accuse me?
If there is someone, let us go to court together.
If someone wants to prove I have done wrong,
he should come and tell me.
9 It is the Lord God who helps me.
So who can prove me guilty?
All those who try will become useless like old clothes.
Moths will eat them.
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys his servant?
That person may walk in the dark
and have no light.
Then let him trust in the Lord.
Let him depend on his God.
11 But instead, some of you want to light your own fires.
You want to make your own light.
So, go, walk in the light of your fires.
Trust your own light to guide you.
But this is what you will receive from me:
You will lie down in a place of pain.
The 1,000 Years
20 I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the bottomless pit. He also held a large chain in his hand. 2 The angel grabbed the dragon, that old snake who is the devil. The angel tied him up for 1,000 years. 3 Then he threw him into the bottomless pit and closed it and locked it over him. The angel did this so that he could not trick the people of the earth anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After 1,000 years he must be set free for a short time.
4 Then I saw some thrones and people sitting on them. They had been given the power to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the truth of Jesus and the message from God. They had not worshiped the beast or his idol. They had not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their hands. They came back to life and ruled with Christ for 1,000 years. 5 (The others that were dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for God and for Christ. They will rule with him for 1,000 years.
7 When the 1,000 years are over, Satan will be set free from his prison. 8 He will go out to trick the nations in all the earth—Gog and Magog. Satan will gather them for battle. There will be so many people that they will be like sand on the seashore. 9 And Satan’s army marched across the earth and gathered around the camp of God’s people and the city that God loves. But fire came down from heaven and burned them up. 10 And Satan, who tricked them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet. There they will be punished day and night forever and ever.
People of the World Are Judged
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was sitting on it. Earth and sky ran away from him and disappeared. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And the book of life was opened. There were also other books opened. The dead were judged by what they had done, which was written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades[a] gave up the dead who were in them. Each person was judged by what he had done. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.