m'cheyne

I've been using the same arrangement for my daily reading for perhaps 25 years now - originally put together by M'Cheyne in the early 19th century.

This year, I'm going to use Eugene Peterson's The Message.

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see.

Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. (Genesis 1:1–2)

I liked that.

Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. (Matthew 1:19)

Not so much. Chagrined, but noble?

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the Message of GOD preached by Jeremiah—GOD prodded Cyrus king of Persia to make an official announcement throughout his kingdom. (Ezra 1:1)

Very nice! God prods...

“As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts.

Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow." (Acts 1:18–19)

Still thinking this one over...