M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Children of Israel Complain

11 Now the people complained about their troubles in the hearing of the Lord. When the Lord heard it, His anger burned. The fire of the Lord burned among them, and destroyed some around the outer parts of the tents. ² Then the people cried to Moses and he prayed to the Lord, and the fire went out. ³ So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ The mixed group of people among them had strong desires. The people of Israel cried again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember all the fish we could eat free in Egypt, and all the fruit and vegetables and spices. ⁶ But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this bread from heaven.” ⁷ Now the bread from heaven was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. ⁸ The people would go and gather it and beat it between stones. They boiled it in a pot or made bread with it. It tasted like bread made with oil. ⁹ When the grass became wet around the tents at night, the bread from heaven would fall.

¹⁰ Moses heard all the people crying in every family, each man at the door of his tent. The Lord became very angry with them and Moses was not pleased. ¹¹ So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes, that You have laid the troubles of all these people on me? ¹² Did I give birth to all these people? Did I bring them out, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them close to your heart as a nurse carries a nursing baby, to the land You promised their fathers’? ¹³ Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? They cry in front of me, saying, ‘Give us meat so we may eat!’ ¹⁴ I am not able to carry all these people alone. The load is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ So if You are going to act this way toward me, I beg You to kill me now, if I have found favor in Your eyes. Do not let me see how bad off I am.”

The Seventy Leaders

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the leaders of Israel, whom you know to be the leaders of the people, the men who rule over them. Bring them to the meeting tent and let them stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take of the Spirit Who is upon you, and will put Him upon them. Then they will carry the troubles of the people with you so you will not carry them all alone. ¹⁸ Say to the people, ‘Make yourselves holy for tomorrow, and you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried and said, “If only someone would give us meat to eat! For it was well with us in Egypt.” So the Lord will give you meat and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will not eat it for only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days. ²⁰ But you will eat it a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and you hate it, because you have turned away from the Lord Who is among you. You have cried before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” ²¹ But Moses said, “The people whom I am among are 600,000 on foot. And You have said, ‘I will give them meat so they may eat for a whole month.’ ²² Will enough flocks and cattle be killed to feed them? Or will enough fish be gathered from the sea to feed them?” ²³ The Lord said to Moses, “Is there an end to the Lord’s power? Now you will see if My Word will come true for you or not.”

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men from the leaders of the people, and had them stand around the meeting tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took of the Spirit Who was upon him and put Him upon the seventy leaders. When the Spirit rested upon them, they spoke the word of the Lord. But they did not do it again.

²⁶ But two men had stayed among the tents. Their names were Eldad and Medad, and the Spirit rested upon them. They were among those who had been chosen, but had not gone out to the meeting tent. So they spoke the word of the Lord among the tents. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are speaking the word of the Lord among the tents.” ²⁸ Then Joshua the son of Nun, the helper of Moses since he was young, said, “Moses, my lord, do not let them.” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my good? If only all the Lord’s people would speak for God, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” ³⁰ Then Moses and the leaders of Israel returned to the tents.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹ Now a wind went out from the Lord. It brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the place where the tents were set up. They fell all around the tents, about as far on each side as it takes to travel in a day. They lay on the ground as deep as two cubits. ³² The people worked all day and all night and all the next day gathering the quail. He who gathered the least gathered enough to fill 110 baskets. And they spread them out for themselves all around the tents. ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth and not yet eaten, the Lord became angry with the people. The Lord sent a bad sickness upon the people. ³⁴ So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah. Because there they buried the people who had wanted meat to eat. ³⁵ The people left Kibroth-hattaavah and went to Hazeroth. And they stayed at Hazeroth.

It Is Foolish to Trust in Riches

48 The Lord is great and should be given much praise, in the city of our God, His holy mountain. ² Mount Zion in the far north is beautiful and high, the joy of the whole earth, the city of the great King. ³ God has made Himself known as a safe place in that city.

⁴ For, see, the kings gathered themselves and went up together. ⁵ They saw it, then they were surprised and afraid. And they ran away fast in fear. ⁶ They began shaking there. And they suffered pain like a woman giving birth. ⁷ You wreck the ships of Tarshish with the east wind. ⁸ As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of All, in the city of our God. God will make her last forever.

⁹ O God, we have thought about Your loving-kindness within Your holy house. ¹⁰ Like Your name, O God, Your praise is heard to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of what is right and good. ¹¹ Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the people of Judah be full of joy because You are right in how You judge. ¹² Walk in Zion, and go around her. See how many towers she has. ¹³ Give thought to her walls. Go through her beautiful houses where kings live. And tell about it to the children-to-come. ¹⁴ This is God, our God forever and ever. He will show us the way until death.

The Sinful Nation of Judah

1 This is the special dream of Isaiah the son of Amoz, about Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the rule of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

² Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: “I have brought up and have taken care of sons, but they have turned against Me. ³ An ox knows its owner. A donkey knows where to find the food its owner gives it. But Israel does not know. My people do not understand.” ⁴ O sinful nation, people weighed down with sin, children of those who do wrong, sons who act in a sinful way! They have left the Lord. They have hated the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away from Him.

⁵ Where will you be punished again, since you still fight against the Lord? Your whole head is sick, and your whole heart is weak. ⁶ From the bottom of the foot even to the head, there is no good part. There are only sores from beatings and open sores. They are not taken care of or covered or made soft with oil.

⁷ Your land lies waste. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers are eating the food of your fields in front of you. It lies waste, as destroyed by strangers. ⁸ The people of Zion are left like a tent in a grape-field, like a watchman’s house in a vegetable field, like a city closed in by armies. ⁹ If the Lord of All had not left some people, we would have all been destroyed like those who lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the Word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah. ¹¹ “What are your many gifts given in worship to Me?” says the Lord. “I have had enough burnt gifts of rams and the fat of cattle. And I am not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. ¹² When you come to show yourselves before Me, who says you must walk and walk around My open spaces? ¹³ Do not bring your gifts of no worth any more. Your special perfume is a hated thing to Me. The new moon and Day of Rest, this calling together of the people, I cannot put up with. I cannot put up with your sin and your meetings of worship. ¹⁴ I hate your new moons and your special suppers. They have become heavy upon Me. I am tired of carrying them. ¹⁵ So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you. Even if you pray many times, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶ “Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Take your sinful actions from My eyes. Stop doing sinful things. ¹⁷ Learn to do good. Look for what is right and fair. Speak strong words to those who make it hard for people. Stand up for the rights of those who have no parents. Help the woman whose husband has died. ¹⁸ “Come now, let us think about this together,” says the Lord. “Even though your sins are bright red, they will be as white as snow. Even though they are dark red, they will be like wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obey, you will eat the best of the land. ²⁰ But if you are not willing and turn against Me, you will be destroyed by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Sinful City

²¹ The faithful city has become like a woman who sells the use of her body. At one time she was full of what was right and fair! Those who are right and good lived in her, but now those who kill. ²² Your silver has lost its worth. Your wine is mixed with water. ²³ Your rulers have turned against what is right. They are the friends of robbers. Every one loves to get pay in secret for wrong-doing, and they run after gifts. They do not stand for the rights of those who have no parents. And they never hear the cry for help of the woman whose husband has died.

²⁴ So the Lord God of All, the Powerful One of Israel, says, “I will put an end to those who fight against Me. I will punish those who hate Me. ²⁵ I will turn My hand against you and burn what is of no worth in you. And I will take away from you all that is not pure. ²⁶ Then I will give you judges as at the first, and your wise men as at the beginning. After that you will be called the city that is right and good, a faithful city.”

²⁷ Zion will be saved by being fair. Those who are sorry for their sins and turn from them will be saved by being right and good. ²⁸ But wrong-doers and sinners will be crushed together. Those who turn away from the Lord will come to an end. ²⁹ For you will be ashamed of the oaks where you worshiped. You will be ashamed of the gardens you have chosen. ³⁰ For you will be like an oak tree whose leaf dries up, or like a garden that has no water. ³¹ The strong man will become easy to burn, and his work also a fire. They will burn together, and there will be no one to put the fire out.

The New Way of Worship Is Better

9 There were special ways of worship and a special holy place made by man for the Old Way of Worship. ² A big tent was built and set up. It was called the holy place. It had a light and a table, and the holy bread was on the table. ³ Behind the second curtain there was another tent. This was called the Holiest Place of All. ⁴ In the inside tent there was an altar where special perfume was burned. There was also a large box made of wood called the box of the Way of Worship. Both of these were covered with gold inside and out. Inside the box was a pot made of gold with the bread from heaven. It also had in it Aaron’s stick that once started to grow. The stones on which the Law of Moses was written were in it. ⁵ Above the box were the cherubim of honor. Their wings were spread up and over and met in the center. On the top of the box and under the shadow of their wings was the mercy-seat. We cannot tell anymore about these things now.

⁶ When everything was finished, the Jewish religious leaders went in and out of the outside tent to do the things which had to be done to worship God. ⁷ Once each year the head religious leader would go into the inside tent alone. He would not go in without blood. He gave this blood to God as a gift in worship for his own sins and for the sins of all the people who sinned without knowing it.

⁸ And so the Holy Spirit is teaching that, with the Old Way of Worship, the people could not go into the Holiest Place of All as long as the outside tent and its Old Way of Worship were being used. ⁹ The outside tent is a picture of that day. With the Old Way of Worship, animals killed and gifts given in worship to God could not take away the guilty feeling of sin. ¹⁰ The Old Way of Worship was made up of Laws about what to eat and drink. These Laws told how to wash and other things to do with the body. These things had to be done until Christ came to bring a better way of worship.

The New Way of Worship Has a Better Gift

¹¹ But Christ came as the Head Religious Leader of the good things God promised. He made the way for man to go to God. He was a greater and more perfect tent. He was not made by human hands and was not a part of this earth. ¹² Christ went into the Holiest Place of All one time for all people. He did not take the blood of goats and young cows to give to God as a gift in worship. He gave His own blood. By doing this, He bought us with His own blood and made us free from sin forever. ¹³ With the Old Way of Worship, the blood and ashes of animals could make men clean after they had sinned. ¹⁴ How much more the blood of Christ will do! He gave Himself as a perfect gift to God through the Spirit that lives forever. Now your heart can be free from the guilty feeling of doing work that is worth nothing. Now you can work for the living God.

¹⁵ Christ is the One Who gave us this New Way of Worship. All those who have been called by God may receive life that lasts forever just as He promised them. Christ bought us with His blood when He died for us. This made us free from our sins which we did under the Old Way of Worship.

¹⁶ When a man wants to give his money to someone after he dies, he writes it all down on paper. But that paper is worth nothing until the man is dead. ¹⁷ That piece of paper means nothing as long as he is alive. It is good only when he dies. ¹⁸ The Old Way of Worship had to have a death to make it good. The blood of an animal was used. ¹⁹ Moses told the people all the things they had to obey in the Law. Then he took the blood of animals together with water and put it on the Book of the Law and on all the people. He used special branches and red wool as he put it on them. ²⁰ Moses said, “This is the blood of the Way of Worship which God said you must obey.” ^{(A) 21} In the same way, Moses put the blood on the tent and on all the things used in worship. ²² The Law says that almost everything is made clean by blood. Sins are not forgiven unless blood is given.

One Perfect Gift

²³ The tent to worship in and the things inside to worship with were like the things in heaven. They were made clean by putting blood on them. But the things in heaven were made clean by a much better gift of worship. ²⁴ For Christ did not go into the Holiest Place of All that was made by men, even if it was like the true one in heaven. He went to heaven itself and He is before God for us. ²⁵ Christ has not given Himself many times, as the head religious leader here on earth went into the Holiest Place of All each year with blood that was not his own. ²⁶ For then Christ would have had to die many times since the world began. But He came once at the end of the Old Way of Worship. He gave Himself once for all time. He gave Himself to destroy sin. ²⁷ It is in the plan that all men die once. After that, they will stand before God and be judged. ²⁸ It is the same with Christ. He gave Himself once to take away the sins of many. When He comes the second time, He will not need to give Himself again for sin. He will save all those who are waiting for Him.