M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The King of Arad Is Defeated
21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim, he fought them and took some of them as prisoners. 2 Then the Israelites made this vow to Yahweh: “If you will hand these people over to us, we’ll destroy their cities because you’ve claimed them.” 3 Yahweh listened to the Israelites and handed the Canaanites over to them. They destroyed the Canaanites and their cities. So they called the place Hormah [Claimed for Destruction].
The Bronze Snake
4 Then they moved from Mount Hor, following the road that goes to the Red Sea, in order to get around Edom. The people became impatient on the trip 5 and criticized Elohim and Moses. They said, “Why did you make us leave Egypt—just to let us die in the desert? There’s no bread or water, and we can’t stand this awful food!”
6 So Yahweh sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we criticized Yahweh and you. Pray to Yahweh so that he will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a snake, and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. People looked at the bronze snake after they were bitten, and they lived.[a]
Israel Travels Past Edom to Moab
10 The Israelites moved and set up camp at Oboth. 11 Next they moved from Oboth and set up camp at Iye Abarim in the desert west of Moab. 12 From there they moved and set up camp at the Zered River. 13 They moved from there and set up camp on the other side of the Arnon Valley in the desert that extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon Valley is the border between Moab and the Amorites.) 14 This is how it’s described in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh:
“. . . Waheb in Suphah and the valleys,
15 Arnon and the slopes of the valleys
that go down to the site of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab. . . .”
16 From there they went to Beer [Well]. This is the well where Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather the people, and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song about the well:
“Make your water spring up!
Sing to the well,
18 the well dug by princes,
dug out by the nobles of the people
with their scepters and staffs.”
From the desert they went to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where Mount Pisgah overlooks Jeshimon.
Sihon and Og Defeated
21 Then Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon of the Amorites, 22 “Let us go through your country. We won’t go through any of your fields or vineyards or drink any of the water from your wells. We’ll stay on the king’s highway until we’ve passed through your territory.”
23 Sihon wouldn’t let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his troops and came out into the desert to attack Israel. When Sihon’s troops came to Jahaz, they fought against Israel. 24 But Israel defeated them in battle and took possession of their land from the Arnon Valley to the Jabbok River. They stopped at the border of the Ammon because it was fortified. 25 Israel took all those Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages, and lived in them. 26 Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had fought the former king of Moab and had taken all his land up to the Arnon Valley.
27 This is why the poets say:
“Come to Heshbon! Rebuild it!
Restore Sihon’s city!
28 Fire came out of Heshbon,
flames from Sihon’s city.
They destroyed Ar of Moab,
the rulers of Arnon’s worship sites.[b]
29 How horrible it is for you, Moab!
You are destroyed, you people of the god Chemosh.
Chemosh let his sons become refugees
and he let his daughters become prisoners
of King Sihon of the Amorites.
30 But we shot the Amorites full of arrows.
From Heshbon to Dibon they all died.
We destroyed everyone and everything
between Nophah and Medeba.”
31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 After Moses sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its cities and villages and forced out the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and followed the road that goes to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and all his troops came out to fight the Israelites at Edrei.
34 Yahweh said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him. I’ll hand him, all his troops, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.” 35 The Israelites defeated him, his sons, and all his troops, leaving no survivors. And they took possession of his land.
Psalm 60
For the choir director; according to shushan eduth;[a] a miktam by David; for teaching. When David fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab came back and killed 12,000 men from Edom in the Dead Sea region.
1 O Elohim, you have rejected us.
You have broken down our defenses.
You have been angry.
Restore us!
2 You made the land quake.
You split it wide open.
Heal the cracks in it
because it is falling apart.
3 You have made your people experience hardships.
You have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 Yet, you have raised a flag for those who fear you
so that they can rally to it
when attacked by bows and arrows. Selah
5 Save us with your powerful hand, and answer us
so that those who are dear to you may be rescued.[b]
6 Elohim has promised the following through his holiness:
“I will triumph!
I will divide Shechem.
I will measure the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine.
Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is the helmet on my head.
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washtub.
I will throw my shoe over Edom.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who rejected us?
Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who refused to accompany our armies?
11 Give us help against the enemy
because human assistance is worthless.
12 With Elohim we will display great strength.
He will trample our enemies.
Psalm 61
For the choir director; on a stringed instrument; by David.
1 Listen to my cry for help, O Elohim.
Pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth, I call to you
when I begin to lose heart.
Lead me to the rock that is high above me.
3 You have been my Machseh,
a Migdal-Oz against the enemy.
4 I would like to be a guest in your tent forever
and to take refuge under the protection of your wings. Selah
5 O Elohim, you have heard my vows.
You have given me the inheritance
that belongs to those who fear your name.
6 Add days upon days to the life of the king.
May his years endure throughout every generation.
7 May he sit enthroned in the presence of Elohim forever.
May mercy and truth protect him.
8 Then I will make music to praise your name forever,
as I keep my vows day after day.
The Lord’s Message against Assyria
5 “How horrible it will be for Assyria!
It is the rod of my anger.
My fury is the staff in the Assyrians’ hands.
6 I send them against a godless nation.
In my fury I order them against the people
to take their belongings, loot them,
and trample on them like mud in the streets.
7 But that’s not what they intend to do.
Their minds don’t work that way.
Their purpose is to destroy and put an end to many nations.
8 They ask, ‘Aren’t all our commanders kings?
9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?’
10 My power has reached kingdoms which have idols.
They had more carved statues than Jerusalem or Samaria.
11 I will do to Jerusalem and its idols
what I’ve done to Samaria and its idols.”
12 When Adonay has finished all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for all his boasting and all his arrogance. 13 The king will say,
“I did this with my own two powerful hands.
I did this with my wisdom, because I am so clever.
I’ve eliminated the boundaries of nations.
I’ve looted treasuries.
I’ve brought down people like a mighty man.
14 I’ve found the riches of nations as one finds a nest.
I’ve gathered the whole world as one gathers abandoned eggs.
Not one of them flapped a wing, opened its mouth, or peeped.”
15 Can an ax attack the person who cuts with it?
Can a saw make itself greater than the person who saws with it?
A rod cannot move the person who lifts it.
A wooden stick cannot pick up a person.
16 That is why Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth
will send a degenerative disease against brave men.
A flame will be turned into a raging fire under his power.
17 Israel’s light will become a flame.
Its Holy One will become a fire.
He will burn up and devour the weeds and thornbushes in one day.
18 The majestic forest and the orchard
will destroy both body and soul.
They will be like a sick person wasting away.
19 The trees that remain in the forest will be so few that
a child could count them.
20 At that time the remaining few Israelites,
the survivors of Jacob’s descendants
will no longer depend on the one who struck them.
They will only depend on Yahweh, Qedosh Yisrael.
21 A few, the remaining few of Jacob, will return to the mighty God.
22 Although your people Israel may be
as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore,
only a few will return.
Destruction will be complete and fair.
23 Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth will carry out this destruction
throughout the world as he has determined.
24 Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth says:
My people who live in Zion,
don’t be afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with a rod
or when they raise their staff against you
as the Egyptians did.
25 Very soon I will unleash my fury,
and my anger will destroy them.
26 Then Yahweh Tsebaoth will raise his whip against them.
As he struck down Midian at the Rock of Oreb
and raised his staff over the water,
so he will lift it as he did in Egypt.
27 At that time their burden will be removed from your shoulders.
Their yoke[a] will be removed from your neck.
The yoke will be torn away because you have grown fat.
28 They come to Aiath.
They pass through Migron.
They store their equipment at Michmash.
29 They go through the mountain pass and lodge at Geba for the night.
The people in Ramah tremble; the people in Saul’s Gibeah flee.
30 Cry aloud, you people in Gallim!
Pay attention, you people in Laishah and miserable Anathoth!
31 The people in Madmenah flee; those who live in Gebim take shelter.
32 This day they stopped at Nob.
They shake their fist at the mountain of my people Zion,
at the mountain of Jerusalem.
33 Now look! Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth
will trim the branches with terrifying power.
The highest trees will be cut down.
The tallest ones will be brought down.
34 He will cut down the underbrush of the forest with an ax.
Lebanon will fall in front of the Mighty One.
Stop Fighting with Each Other
4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren’t they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you commit murder. You’re determined to have things, but you can’t get what you want. You quarrel and fight. You don’t have the things you want, because you don’t pray for them. 3 When you pray for things, you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
4 You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this evil world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. 5 Do you think this passage means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that lives in us wants us to be his own.”
6 But God shows us even more kindness.[a] Scripture says,
“God opposes arrogant people,
but he is kind to humble people.”
7 So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. 8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners, and clear your minds, you doubters. 9 Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence. Then he will give you a high position.
Stop Slandering Each Other
11 Brothers and sisters, stop slandering each other. Those who slander and judge other believers slander and judge God’s laws. If you judge God’s teachings, you are no longer following them. Instead, you are judging them. 12 There is only one who creates laws and judges on the basis of them. He is able to save or destroy you. So who are you to judge your neighbor?
Don’t Brag about Your Plans for the Future
13 Pay attention to this! You’re saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go into some city, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” 14 You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and carry out our plans.” 16 However, you brag because you’re arrogant. All such bragging is evil.
17 Whoever knows what is right but doesn’t do it is sinning.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.