M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The People Rebel
14 The entire community raised a loud cry. The people wept that night. 2 All of the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! If only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken as captives! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s put someone in charge and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the entire assembly of the Israelite community.
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had scouted the land, tore their clothes. 7 They spoke to the entire Israelite community, “The land that we explored and scouted is a very good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not revolt against the Lord. Do not fear the people of the land, for we will eat them up.[a] Their protection is taken away from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
10 Still the entire community threatened to stone them to death. The Glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites over the Tent of Meeting. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with a plague and disown them. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
Moses Intercedes for Israel
13 Moses said to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear it, since by your own power you brought these people up from the midst of the Egyptians. 14 They will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have heard that you, the Lord, are in the midst of this people. You, the Lord, are seen face-to-face.[b] Your cloud stands over them. You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you killed these people, leaving no one, then the nations which have heard about your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring these people into the land which he swore to them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving guilt and rebellion. He certainly does not leave the guilty unpunished, following up on the guilt of the fathers with the children unto the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 According to your great mercy, please pardon the guilt of these people, just as you have forgiven these people from Egypt until now.”
God Decrees Forty Years of Wandering
20 The Lord said, “I have pardoned them just as you have said. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the entire earth is filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 not one of the men who has seen my glory and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who has tested me these ten times and has not listened to my voice— 23 I promise that none of them will see the land which I swore to their fathers. None of those who treated me with contempt will see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb had a different spirit and has followed me completely, I will bring him into the land to which he traveled. His descendants will possess it. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys and lowlands, tomorrow you are to turn back and set out into the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the Israelites’ constant grumblings against me. 28 Tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you just as I have heard you say. 29 In this wilderness your corpses will fall. All of you who were registered in the census, every one of you twenty years old and up who have grumbled against me, 30 I swear that none of you will go into the land where I promised to settle you, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 But your children, whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will experience the land which you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years. They will have to endure your prostitution until your corpses perish in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your guilt for forty years, based on the number of days that you scouted the land, forty days, one year for every day. You will experience my opposition.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to this entire wicked community, who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will perish. There they will die.”
36 The men whom Moses had sent to scout the land, who returned and made the entire community grumble against him by giving a negative report about the land— 37 those men who brought the wicked, negative report about the land—died by the plague before the Lord. 38 Of those men who had gone to scout the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
Israel Defeated in Battle
39 Moses told these things to all the Israelites, and the people mourned bitterly. 40 They got up early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country. They said, “We are ready. We will go up to the place which the Lord spoke about. We admit we have sinned.”
41 Moses said, “What is this? Why are you going against the Lord’s command? This will not succeed. 42 Do not go up, because the Lord is not among you. You will be struck down before your enemies, 43 because the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there to oppose you. You will fall by the sword because you turned away from following the Lord. Therefore the Lord will not be with you.”
44 But they dared to go up to the heights of the hill country. Nevertheless, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses did not leave the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites, who lived in that hill country, came down, attacked them, and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Psalm 50
The Folly of Formalistic Worship
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.[a]
The Summons
1 God, God the Lord, has spoken.
He calls to the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.
3 Our God comes and he will not be silent.
Fire devours in front of him.
Around him a storm rages.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth
to judge his people.
5 “Gather to me my favored ones,
who make a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 So the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
because God himself is judge. Interlude
The Lord’s Charges Against Them
7 Listen, my people, and let me speak, O Israel.
Then I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
Hypocritical Sacrifices Are Useless
8 It is not because of your sacrifices that I rebuke you
or because of your burnt offerings that are always in front of me.
9 I do not need to take a bull from your barn
or goats from your pens,
10 because every animal in the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand mountains.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and everything that moves in the field is with me.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the world is mine, and all that fills it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or do I drink the blood of goats?
Sincere Sacrifices Bring Blessing
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of distress.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.
Treacherous Deeds Bring Destruction
16 But to the wicked, God says:
What right do you have to recite my statutes
or to take up my covenant with your mouth?
17 As for you—you hate discipline,
and you throw my words behind your back.
18 If you see a thief, you approve of him,
and you cast your lot with adulterers.
19 You devote your mouth to evil,
and your tongue weaves deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
The Verdict
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent.
You thought I was just like you.
I will indict you and accuse you to your face.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to rescue you.
The Way to Escape
23 The one who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he sets up the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.
Judgment on Jerusalem
3
Pay attention to this.
The Lord, the Lord of Armies, is about to remove from Jerusalem
and Judah
every kind of support:
the entire supply of bread,
and the entire supply of water,
2 the hero and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
the omen reader and the elder,
3 the commander of fifty and the respected leader,
the adviser and the clever practitioner of occult arts,
and the skillful caster of spells.[a]
4 I will give them young men as their officials,
and immature children[b] will rule over them.
5 The people will tyrannize each other,
man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young man will behave arrogantly against the elder,
and the dishonorable against the honorable.
6 Then a man will take hold of his brother in his father’s house and say, “You have fine clothing. You be our ruler. You take charge of these ruins.”
7 But in that day his brother will cry out, “I am not a healer.[c] In my house I have neither bread nor fine clothing. Don’t make me ruler of this people.”
8 Yes, Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their actions are against the Lord.
They defy his glorious presence.[d]
9 The look on their faces testifies against them.
They parade their sin like Sodom.
They do not bother to hide it.
How terrible it will be for them!
Look, they have brought disaster upon themselves.
10 Tell the righteous that it will go well for them,
and they will eat the fruit of their labors.
11 How terrible it will be for the wicked!
Disaster is coming upon them.
Yes, whatever they have done with their hands will be paid back to them.
12 As for my people, children will oppress them,[e]
and women will rule over them.
My people, your guides are leading you astray.
They are confusing you about the way you should go.
13 The Lord stands up to make his case.
He stands to judge the peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and with their officials. He says, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard. The things you have stolen from the poor are in your houses. 15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor? declares the Lord, the Lord of Armies.”
Judgment on the Proud Women of Jerusalem
16 The Lord also says this. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and they walk with their heads held high,[f] flirting with their eyes, walking seductively with quick little steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles, 17 the Lord will crown the heads of the daughters of Zion with scabs. The Lord will make their scalps bald.[g] 18 In that day the Lord will take away the beautiful anklets, the headbands, the crescent ornaments, 19 the earrings, the bracelets, the veils, 20 the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, the magic charms, 21 the signet rings, the nose rings, 22 the elegant dresses, the capes, the shawls, the purses, 23 the hand mirrors, the fine linen wraps, the tiaras, and the gowns.[h]
24 This is what will take place:
Instead of fragrant perfumes, there will be a stench,
instead of styled hair, baldness,
instead of a robe, a garment made of sackcloth,
and there will be branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword,
and your mighty warriors in battle.
26 Her gates will groan and grieve,
and she will sit on the ground, deserted.
4 On that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing. Just let us be called by your name. Take away our shame.”
The Branch of the Lord Will Be Beautiful
2 On that day, the Branch[i] of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel. 3 Then whoever is left in Zion and whoever remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, that is, everyone who is registered for life in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the disgusting filth[j] of the daughters of Zion and cleanse the blood of Jerusalem from its midst by the Spirit[k] of judgment and by the Spirit of burning. 5 Then over the entire site[l] of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a bright flaming fire by night, so there will be a canopy over all the glory. 6 In the daytime there will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat and to provide refuge and a hiding place from the storm and the rain.
Faith
11 Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see. 2 For by this faith the ancients were commended in Scripture.[a]
3 By faith we know that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what is seen did not come from visible things.
4 By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. By faith he was commended in Scripture as righteous; God testified favorably about his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he would not experience death, and he was not found because God took him away.[b] In fact, before he was taken away, he was commended in Scripture as one who “pleased God.”[c] 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. Indeed, it is necessary for the one who approaches God to believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things that had not been seen before, built an ark, in reverent fear, in order to save his family. By it he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he left without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land, as if it did not belong to him, dwelling in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith Abraham also received the ability to conceive children, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was past the normal age, because he considered him faithful who made the promise.[d] 12 And so from one man, and he as good as dead, descendants were born as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand along the seashore.
13 One by one, all of these died in faith, without having received the things that were promised, but they saw and welcomed them from a distance. They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 Indeed, people who say things like that make it clear that they are looking for a land of their own. 15 And if they were remembering the land they had come from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better land—a heavenly one. For that reason, God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac. This man, who received the promises, was ready to offer his only son, 18 about whom it was said, “Through Isaac your offspring will be traced.”[e] 19 He reasoned that God also had the ability to raise him from the dead, and in a figurative sense, Abraham did receive him back from the dead.
20 By faith Isaac also blessed Jacob and Esau about things that were going to happen.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, as he neared the end of his life, mentioned[f] the Exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his bones.
23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after he was born, because they saw he was a special child, and they were not afraid of the king’s order.
24 By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he grew up. 25 He chose to be mistreated with God’s people rather than enjoy sin for a little while. 26 He considered disgrace for the sake of Christ as greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s wrath, because he persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.
28 By faith he celebrated the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not strike them down.
29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as if going through on dry ground. When the Egyptians tried it, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with the unbelievers, because she welcomed the spies in peace.
32 And what more should I say? There would not be enough time for me to continue to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 By faith they conquered kingdoms, carried out justice, obtained things that were promised, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edges of the sword, were made powerful after being weak, became mighty in battle, and caused foreign armies to flee. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. And others who were tortured did not accept their release, so that they may take part in a better resurrection. 36 Still others experienced mocking and lashes, in addition to chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were tempted;[g] they were killed with the sword; they went around in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, afflicted, and mistreated. 38 The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
39 All of these were commended in Scripture by faith, yet they did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had planned something better for us, namely, that they would not reach the goal apart from us.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.