M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Balaam’s First Message
23 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
2 Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go off by myself. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” ⎣So Balak went and stood by his burnt offering, and Balaam called to God⎦[a] and then he went off to a barren hill.
4 God met Balaam, and Balaam said to him, “I have set up seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”
5 The Lord put a message into Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you are to deliver this message.”
6 Balaam returned to Balak and found him standing by his burnt offering, along with all the officials of Moab. 7 Balaam took up his oracle. He said:
From Aram, Balak has brought me.
Balak, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains, said,
“Come, curse Jacob for me.
Come, denounce Israel.”
8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
9 Yes, from the rocky peaks I see him.
From the hills I look at him.
Look! A people that dwells apart,
that does not consider itself to be one of the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or number even a fourth of Israel?
May I die the death of the righteous!
May my final end be like his!
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have just blessed them.”
12 Balaam answered, “Don’t I have to speak accurately whatever the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Message
13 Balak said to Balaam, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only their outskirts. You will not see all of them. From there curse them for me.”
14 Balak took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. Balak built seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. The Lord said, “Return to Balak, and you are to deliver this message.”
17 Balaam came back to Balak and found him standing by his burnt offering, and the officials of Moab were with him. Balak said to him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Balaam took up his oracle and said:
Get up, Balak, and listen!
Give ear to me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he changes his mind.
Does he say something, and then not carry it out?
Does he speak, and then not bring it about?
20 Look, I have received a command to bless.
He has blessed, and I cannot change that.
21 No disaster is in sight for Jacob.
No suffering is seen in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him.
The shout for the King is among them.
He rejoices in his King.
22 God brings them out of Egypt.
God is like the horns of a wild ox for him.
23 Surely there is no occult power against Jacob,
no omen against Israel.
They will say about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
24 Look, the people rise up like a lioness.
Like a lion they lift themselves up.
He will not lie down until he eats the prey,
until he drinks the blood of the slain.
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all! Do not bless them at all!”
26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I say to you that I must do everything the Lord says?”
Balaam’s Third Message
27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come on, I will take you to another place. Maybe God will agree to let you curse them for me from there.”
28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland. 29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30 Balak did just as Balaam had said and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
Psalm 64
Hide Me From the Conspiracy
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David.
Opening Plea
1 Hear my voice, O God, when I complain.
Protect my life from the terror caused by the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the noisy mob of evildoers.
The Enemies’ Wickedness
3 They sharpen their tongues like a sword.
They shoot poison words like arrows.
4 They shoot at the innocent from hiding places.
Suddenly they shoot at him. They have no fear.
5 They strengthen each other in an evil plot.
They discuss where to hide snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They plot evil deeds and they say,
“We have come up with a perfect plot!”
The mind and heart of man are devious!
God’s Judgment
7 But God will shoot them.
Suddenly they are wounded with an arrow.
8 Their own tongues cause their downfall.[a]
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.
The Joy of the Godly
9 Then all people will be afraid.
They will proclaim the work of God.
They will consider what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart be confident!
Psalm 65
A Thanksgiving Psalm: You Crown the Year With Goodness
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David. A song.
Introduction
1 Praise waits for you,[b] O God, in Zion.
To you vows will be fulfilled.
2 You who hear prayer, to you all mortals[c] will come.
Spiritual Blessings
3 The record of my guilt overpowered me.
You atone for our rebellious acts.
4 How blessed is the one you choose and bring near!
He will dwell in your courtyards.
We will be satisfied by the goodness of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.
Blessings on the Nations
5 In righteousness you answer us with awesome deeds,
O God who saves us.
He is trusted by all the farthest ends of the earth and the sea.
6 He establishes the mountains by his power.
He has wrapped himself with strength.
7 He stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the peoples.
8 Those living at the ends of the earth fear your signs.
From sunrise to sunset you let them shout for joy.
Blessings of the Harvest
9 You visit the earth and water it.
You make it very rich.
God’s stream is filled with water.
You provide grain for them, just as you planned.
10 You drench the land’s furrows. You flatten its plowed ground.
You soften it with showers. You bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your goodness.
The tracks made by your carts overflow with riches.[d]
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip.
The hills are wrapped with joy.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They shout for joy. Yes! They sing.
Prophecies Against the Nations
A Prophecy Against Babylon
13 The oracle[a]about Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.
2 Raise a banner on a bare hill!
Shout to them.
Signal to them to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have given a command to my consecrated warriors.
I have called my elite warriors to carry out my anger—
those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 The noise of a horde is heard on the mountains,
like the noise of many people,
like the uproar of the kingdoms of the nations
who are massing together!
The Lord of Armies is mustering an army for war.
5 They come from a faraway country,
from the ends of the heavens.
The Lord and the weapons of his wrath
come to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the Day of the Lord is near.
It will come like destruction from the Almighty.[b]
7 Therefore all hands will hang limp,
and every heart will melt.
8 They will be terrified.
Pain will overcome them.
They will be in pain like a woman in labor.
They will look at each other in shock.
Their faces are flushed.
9 Look, the Day of the Lord is coming,
a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger,
a day to make the land desolate,
a day to destroy its sinners there.
10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations
will not give their light.
The sun will be darkened as it rises,
and the moon will give no light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their guilt.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the insolent,
and I will humble the pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people rarer than fine gold,
and mankind scarcer than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken off its foundation
at the wrath of the Lord of Armies,
in the day of his fierce anger.
14 Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
each of them will turn to his own people,
and everyone will flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is caught will be run through.
Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes.
Their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.
17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who have no use for silver,
who do not delight even in gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young,
and they will have no pity on newborn infants.[c]
There will be no compassion in their eyes for children.
19 Babylon is the glory of kingdoms,
the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
but it will be just like the day when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited again,
nor will anyone live in it from generation to generation.
No Arab[d] will pitch his tent there.
No shepherd will rest his flocks there.
21 Instead, wild animals from the desert will rest there.
The houses will be full of wild dogs.[e]
Ostriches will nest there,
and wild goats will frolic.
22 Hyenas will howl in its fortresses,
and jackals in the luxurious palaces.
Its time is near,
and its days will not be prolonged.
Greeting
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To the elect, temporary residents in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you.
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.
6 Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 The prophets, who prophesied about the grace that has come to you, searched and studied carefully concerning this salvation, 11 trying to find out what person and what time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they wrote about these things. These are the things that have now been announced to you by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even the angels long to look carefully into these things.
A Call to Holy Living
13 Therefore, after preparing your minds for action by exercising self-control, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 Rather, just as the one who called you is holy, so also be holy in everything you do. 16 For it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”[a]
17 If you call on the Father who judges impartially, according to the work of each person, conduct yourselves during the time of your pilgrimage in reverence, 18 because you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was chosen before the foundation of the world but revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have purified your souls by obeying the truth,[b] resulting in sincere brotherly love, love one another constantly from a pure heart. 23 For you have been born again, not from perishable seed but from imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For:
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory is like a flower of the field.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.[c]
And this is the word that was preached to you.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.