M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Corporal punishment
25 Now two people have a disagreement and they enter into litigation and their case is decided, with the judges declaring one person legally right and the other legally liable. 2 If the guilty party is to be beaten, the presiding judge will have that person lie down and be punished in his presence—the number of blows in measure with the guilt determined. 3 Give no more than forty blows. If more than that is given, your fellow Israelite would be completely disgraced in your eyes.
Working oxen
4 Don’t muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain.
The brother-in-law’s duty
5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not go outside the family and marry a stranger. Instead, her brother-in-law should go to her and take her as his wife. He will then consummate the marriage according to the brother-in-law’s duty. 6 The brother-in-law will name the oldest male son that she bears after his dead brother so that his brother’s legacy will not be forgotten in Israel. 7 If the brother does not want to marry his sister-in-law, she can go to the elders at the city gate, informing them: “My brother-in-law refuses to continue his brother’s legacy in Israel. He’s not willing to perform the brother-in-law’s duty with me.” 8 The city’s elders will summon him and talk to him about this. If he doesn’t budge, insisting, “I don’t want to marry her,” 9 then the sister-in-law will approach him while the elders watch. She will pull the sandal off his foot and spit in his face. Then she will exclaim: “That’s what’s done to any man who won’t build up his own brother’s family!” 10 Subsequently, that man’s family will be known throughout Israel as “the house of the removed sandal.”
Improper touching
11 If two men are fighting with each other—a man and his fellow Israelite—and the wife of one of them gets into the fight, trying to save her husband from his attacker and does so by reaching out and grabbing his genitals, 12 you must cut off her hand. Show no mercy.
Honest business practices
13 Don’t have two different types of money weights in your bag, a heavy one and a light one. 14 Don’t have two different types of ephahs in your house, a large one and a small one. 15 Instead, you must have only one weight, complete and correct, and only one ephah, also complete and correct, so that your life might be long in the fertile land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 What’s more, all who do such things, all who do business dishonestly, are detestable to the Lord your God. 17 Remember, after all, what Amalek did to you on your departure from Egypt: 18 how he met up with you on the way, striking from behind those who were lagging back because you were weak and tired, and because he didn’t fear God. 19 So once the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies that surround you in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you must wipe out Amalek’s memory from under the heavens. Don’t forget this!
Psalm 116
116 I love the Lord because he hears
my requests for mercy.
2 I’ll call out to him as long as I live,
because he listens closely to me.
3 Death’s ropes bound me;
the distress of the grave[a] found me—
I came face-to-face with trouble and grief.
4 So I called on the Lord’s name:
“Lord, please save me!”[b]
5 The Lord is merciful and righteous;
our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord protects simple folk;
he saves me whenever I am brought down.
7 I tell myself, You can be at peace again,
because the Lord has been good to you.
8 You, God, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my foot from stumbling,
9 so I’ll walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I have remained faithful, even when I said,
“I am suffering so badly!”
11 even when I said, out of fear,
“Everyone is a liar!”
12 What can I give back to the Lord
for all the good things he has done for me?
13 I’ll lift up the cup of salvation.
I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
14 I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
in the presence of all God’s people.
15 The death of the Lord’s faithful
is a costly loss in his eyes.
16 Oh yes, Lord, I am definitely your servant!
I am your servant and the son of your female servant—
you’ve freed me from my chains.
17 So I’ll offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to you,
and I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
18 I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
in the presence of all God’s people,
19 in the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
which is in the center of Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Awake, holy Zion
52 Awake, awake,
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your splendid clothing,
Jerusalem, you holy city;
for the uncircumcised and unclean
will no longer come into you.
2 Shake the dust off yourself;
rise up; sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Loose the bonds from your neck,
captive Daughter Zion!
3 The Lord proclaims:
You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without money.
4 The Lord God proclaims:
Long ago my people went down
to reside in Egypt.
Moreover, Assyria has oppressed them without cause.
5 And now what have I here? says the Lord.
My people are taken away for nothing.
Their rulers wail, says the Lord,
and continually all day long my name is despised.
6 Therefore, my people will know my name on that day;
I’m the one who promises it; I’m here.
Your God rules
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of a messenger
who proclaims peace,
who brings good news,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God rules!”
8 Listen! Your lookouts lift their voice;
they sing out together!
Right before their eyes they see the Lord returning to Zion.
9 Break into song together, you ruins of Jerusalem!
The Lord has comforted his people and has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm in view of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.
11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there!
Unclean! Don’t touch!
Get out of that place; purify yourselves,
carriers of the Lord’s equipment!
12 You won’t go out in a rush,
nor will you run away,
because the one going before you is the Lord;
your rear guard is the God of Israel.
Suffering servant
13 Look, my servant will succeed.
He will be exalted and lifted very high.
14 Just as many were appalled by you,
he too appeared disfigured, inhuman,
his appearance unlike that of mortals.
15 But he will astonish[a] many nations.
Kings will be silenced because of him,
because they will see what they haven’t seen before;
what they haven’t heard before, they will ponder.
22 Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water,[a] shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb 2 through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always.
Jesus is coming soon
6 Then he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.
7 “Look! I’m coming soon. Favored is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy contained in this scroll.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I’m a servant just like you and your brothers and sisters, the prophets, and those who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” 10 Then he said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this scroll, because the time is near. 11 Let those who do wrong keep doing what is wrong. Let the filthy still be filthy. Let those who are righteous keep doing what is right. Let those who are holy still be holy.
12 “Look! I’m coming soon. My reward is with me, to repay all people as their actions deserve. 13 I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Favored are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right of access to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, the drug users and spell-casters, those who commit sexual immorality, the murderers, the idolaters, and all who love and practice deception.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to bear witness to all of you about these things for the churches. I’m the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star. 17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who is thirsty come! Let the one who wishes receive life-giving water[b] as a gift.”
18 Now I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this scroll: If anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues that are written in this scroll. 19 If anyone takes away from the words of this scroll of prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and the holy city, which are described in this scroll.
20 The one who bears witness to these things says, “Yes, I’m coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible