M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
24 A man might marry a woman. But he might decide she doesn’t please him. He has found something bad about her. He writes out divorce papers for her. He gives them to her and sends her away from his house. 2 After she leaves his house, she goes and marries another man. 3 But her second husband does not like her either. So he writes out divorce papers for her. He gives them to her and sends her away from his house. Or the second husband might die. 4 In either case, her first husband who divorced her must not marry her again. She has become unclean. The Lord would hate this. Don’t bring this sin into the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.
5 A man who has just married must not be sent to war. And he must not be given any other duty. He should be free to stay home for a year to make his new wife happy.
6 A man might owe you something. But do not take his two stones for grinding grain—not even the upper one—in place of what he owes. This is how he makes his living.
7 A man might kidnap a fellow Israelite. He might make him a slave or sell him. The kidnapper must be killed. You must get rid of the evil among you.
8 Be careful when someone has a harmful skin disease. Do exactly what the priests, the Levites, teach you. Be careful to do what I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt.
10 You might make a loan to your neighbor. But don’t go into his house to get something in place of it. 11 Stay outside. Let the man himself go in and get what he promised you. 12 A poor man might give you his coat to show he will pay the loan back. But don’t keep his coat overnight. 13 Give his coat back to him at sunset. He needs his coat to sleep in. He will thank you. And the Lord your God will see that you have done a good thing.
14 Don’t cheat a hired servant who is poor and needy. He might be a fellow Israelite. Or he might be a foreigner living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him each day before sunset. He is poor and needs the money. Otherwise, he may complain to the Lord about you. And you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers must not be put to death when their children do wrong. And children must not be put to death when their fathers do wrong. Each person must die for his own sin.
17 Do not be unfair to a foreigner or an orphan. Don’t take a widow’s coat in place of a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. And the Lord your God saved you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do this.
19 You might be gathering your harvest in the field. You might not see a bundle of grain. Don’t go back and get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans and widows. Then the Lord your God can bless everything you do. 20 You may beat your olive trees to knock the olives off. But don’t beat the trees a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans and widows. 21 You may harvest the grapes in your vineyard. But don’t pick the vines a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I am commanding you to do this.
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 The Israelites went out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place.
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord.
Tremble in the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water.
He changed a hard rock into a spring of water.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The praise belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
And no sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
11 You people who fear the Lord should trust him.
He is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel.
He will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who fear him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you many children.
And may he give them children also.
15 May the Lord bless you.
He made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord.
But he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord.
Those in the grave are silent.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
51 The Lord says, “Listen to me,
those of you who try to live right and follow the Lord.
Look at the rock from which you were cut.
Look at the stone quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look at Abraham, your ancestor.
Look at Sarah, who gave birth to your ancestors.
Abraham had no children when I called him.
But I blessed him and gave him many descendants.
3 So the Lord will comfort Jerusalem.
He will show mercy to those who live in her ruins.
He will change her deserts into a garden like Eden.
He will make her empty lands like the garden of the Lord.
People there will be very happy.
They will give thanks and sing songs.
4 “My people, listen to me.
My nation, pay attention to me.
I will give the people my teachings.
And my decisions will be like a light to all people.
5 I will soon show I do what is right.
I will soon save you.
I will use my power and judge all nations.
All the faraway places are waiting for me.
They wait for my power to help them.
6 Look up to the heavens.
Look around you at the earth below.
The skies will disappear like clouds of smoke.
The earth will become useless like old clothes.
Its people will die like flies.
But my salvation will continue forever.
My goodness will never end.
7 “You people who know what is right should listen to me.
You people who follow my teachings should hear what I say.
Don’t be afraid of the evil things people say.
Don’t be upset by their insults.
8 Moths will eat those people as if they were clothes.
Worms will eat them as if they were wool.
But my goodness will continue forever.
My salvation will continue from now on.”
9 Wake up, wake up, and use your strength,
powerful Lord.
Wake up as you did in the old times.
Wake up as you did a long time ago.
With your own power, you cut Rahab into pieces.
You killed that sea monster.
10 You caused the sea to become dry.
You dried the waters of the deep ocean.
You made the deepest parts of the sea into a road.
Your people crossed over on that road and were saved.
11 The people the Lord has freed will return.
They will enter Jerusalem with joy.
Their happiness will last forever.
They will have joy and gladness.
All sadness and sorrow will be gone far away.
12 The Lord says, “I am the one who comforts you.
So why should you be afraid of people, who die?
Why should you fear people who die like the grass?
13 Have you forgotten that the Lord made you?
He stretched out the skies.
He made the earth.
Why are you always afraid
of those angry people who trouble you?
They want to destroy.
But where are those angry people now?
14 People in prison will soon be set free.
They will not die in prison.
They will have enough food.
15 This is because I am the Lord your God.
I stir the sea and make the waves roar.
My name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
16 I will give you the words I want you to say.
I will cover you with my hands and protect you.
I made the heavens and the earth.
And I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people.’”
God Punished Israel
17 The Lord was very angry with you.
Your punishment was like wine in a cup.
The Lord made you drink that wine
until you stumbled.
18 Jerusalem had many people.
But there was not a person to lead her.
Of all the people who grew up there,
no one was there to guide her.
19 Troubles came to you in groups of two.
No one will feel sorry for you.
There was ruin and disaster, great hunger and fighting.
No one can comfort you.
20 Your people have become weak.
They fall down and lie on every street corner.
They are like animals caught in a net.
They have felt the full anger of the Lord.
They have heard God’s angry shout.
21 So listen to me, poor Jerusalem,
you who are drunk but not from wine.
22 Your God will fight for his people.
This is what the Lord your God says:
“The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine.
You drank it and could not walk straight.
I am taking that cup of my anger away from you.
You will never be punished by my anger again.
23 I will now give that cup of punishment to those who gave you pain.
They told you,
‘Bow down so we can walk over you.’
They made your back like dirt for them to walk on.
You were like a street for them to travel on.”
The New Jerusalem
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared. Now there was no sea. 2 And I saw the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. This holy city is the new Jerusalem.[a] It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne. The voice said, “Now God’s home is with men. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.[b] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”
5 The One who was sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.”
6 The One on the throne said to me: “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega,[c] the Beginning and the End. I will give free water from the spring of the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. 7 Anyone who wins the victory will receive this. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8 But those who are cowards, who refuse to believe, who do evil things, who kill, who are sexually immoral, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies—all these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
9 One of the seven angels came to me. This was one of the angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last troubles. He said, “Come with me. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 The angel carried me away by the Spirit to a very large and high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It was shining with the glory of God. It was shining bright like a very expensive jewel, like a jasper. It was clear as crystal. 12 The city had a great high wall with 12 gates. There were 12 angels at the gates. On each gate was written the name of 1 of the 12 tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. 14 The walls of the city were built on 12 foundation stones. On the stones were written the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod made of gold. He had this rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city was built in a square. Its length was equal to its width. The angel measured the city with the rod. The city was 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. 17 The angel also measured the wall. It was 216 feet high, by man’s measurement. That was the measurement the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city walls had every kind of jewel in them. The first cornerstone was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was chalcedony, the fourth was emerald, 20 the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. 21 The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold. The gold was clear as glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb are the city’s temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is the city’s lamp. 24 By its light the people of the world will walk. The kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 The city’s gates will never be shut on any day, because there is no night there. 26 The greatness and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter the city. No one who does shameful things or tells lies will ever go into it. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.