M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Korah Works against Moses
16 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, caused trouble. 2 They came in front of Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel. They had chosen 250 leaders of the people of Israel, well-known men. 3 They all gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why do you honor yourselves more than the people of the Lord?”
4 When Moses heard this, he bowed to the ground. 5 He said to Korah and all who were with him, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy. He will have him come near to Him. He will bring near to Himself the one whom He will choose. 6 Do this, Korah and all who are with you. Take pots for burning special perfume. 7 Put fire in them, and put special perfume upon them before the Lord tomorrow. The man whom the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi. 9 Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the people of Israel? He has brought you near to Himself. He has you do the work around the meeting tent of the Lord. And He has you stand in front of the people to care for them. 10 He has brought you near to Him, Korah, and all your brothers who are the sons of Levi, with you. Would you try to be the religious leaders also? 11 So you and all who are with you are gathered together against the Lord. But as for Aaron, who is he that you complain against him?”
12 Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the desert? Must you make yourself a ruler over us also? 14 More than this, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey. You have not given us any land with fields and grape vines. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15 Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord, “Do not respect their gift! I have not taken one donkey from them. And I have not hurt one of them.” 16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all who are with you be before the Lord tomorrow, you and they, and Aaron. 17 Each of you take his fire pot and put special perfume on it. And each of you bring his fire pot before the Lord, 250 fire pots. Let both you and Aaron bring his fire pot also.” 18 So each man took his fire pot and put fire in it and put special perfume on it. And they stood at the door of the meeting tent with Moses and Aaron. 19 Korah gathered together all the people against them at the door of the meeting tent. And the shining-greatness of the Lord was seen by all the people.
20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Go away from these people, so I may destroy them at once.” 22 But they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with all the people?” 23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the people, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”
25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the leaders of Israel following him. 26 And he said to the people, “Go away now from the tents of these sinful men. Touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be destroyed because of all their sin.” 27 So they went away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 Moses said, “By this you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works. For this is not my doing. 29 If these men die in the same way all men die, or if what happens to everyone happens to them, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But the Lord will do something new. The ground will open its mouth and take them with all that belongs to them. And they will go down alive into the place of the dead. Then you will understand that these men have turned against the Lord.”
31 As soon as he stopped speaking, the ground under them opened up. 32 The earth opened its mouth and took them and all those of their house, and all Korah’s men and all that belonged to them. 33 They and all that belonged to them went down alive to the place of the dead, and the earth closed over them. They were destroyed from among the people. 34 And all Israel who were around them ran away at their cry. For they said, “The earth may take us too!” 35 Then fire came from the Lord and destroyed the 250 men who had brought the special perfume.
36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the religious leader to take the fire pots out of the fire. For they are holy. Then spread the burning pieces far apart. 38 Let the fire pots of these men who have sinned and lost their lives be made into beaten plates to cover the altar. For they did bring them to the Lord and they are holy. They will be something special for the people of Israel to see.” 39 So Eleazar the religious leader took the brass fire pots which the men who were burned had brought. And they beat them into plates to cover the altar. 40 They were to make the people of Israel remember that no man who is not a religious leader and a son of Aaron should come to burn special perfume before the Lord. Or he might become like Korah and those who were with him, as the Lord said to Eleazar through Moses.
The People Complain
41 But on the next day all the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people.” 42 When the people had gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the meeting tent. There the cloud covered it and they saw the shining-greatness of the Lord. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the meeting tent. 44 And the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from these people, so I may destroy them at once.” Then they fell on their faces. 46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your fire pot and put fire in it from the altar, and lay special perfume on it. Then be quick to bring it to the people and pay for their sin. For anger has gone out from the Lord. The disease has come!” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said, and ran to the people. The disease had already come upon them. He put on the special perfume and paid for the sin of the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the disease was stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died by the disease, as well as those who died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the meeting tent, for the disease had been stopped.
Trust in God’s Love
52 Why do you take pride in wrong-doing, O powerful man? The loving-kindness of God lasts all day long. 2 Your tongue makes plans to destroy like a sharp knife, you who lie. 3 You love what is bad more than what is good, and you speak lies more than you speak the truth. 4 You love all words that destroy, O lying tongue.
5 But God will destroy you forever. He will pick you up and pull you away from your tent. He will pull up your roots from the land of the living. 6 And those who are right will see and be afraid. They will laugh at him, saying, 7 “Look, the man who would not make God his safe place, but trusted in his many riches and was strong in his sinful desire.”
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the loving-kindness of God forever and ever. 9 I will give You thanks forever because of what You have done. And I will hope in Your name, for it is good to be where those who belong to You are.
Foolish Men
53 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are sinful and have done bad things. There is no one who does good. 2 God has looked down from heaven at the children of men to see if there is anyone who understands and looks for God. 3 They have all turned back. They have all turned to sin. There is no one who does good, not even one. 4 Have those who do wrong no understanding? They eat up My people like they eat bread. They have not called upon God. 5 There they were, in much fear, where there was nothing to be afraid of. For God has spread out the bones of those who come against you. You put them to shame, because God has turned away from them. 6 O, that the saving of Israel would come out of Zion! Jacob will be full of joy and Israel will be glad when God returns His people to their land.
Prayer for a Safe Place
54 Save me by Your name, O God. And stand with me by Your power. 2 Hear my prayer, O God. Listen to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers have risen against me. And men who hurt others want to take my life. They do not think about God.
4 See, God is my Helper. The Lord is the One Who keeps my soul alive. 5 He will punish those who hate me, for the wrong they have done. He will destroy them because He is faithful.
6 I will be glad to give You a gift on the altar. I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good. 7 For He has taken me out of all trouble. And my eyes have looked without fear upon those who hate me.
Isaiah Called to Be a Man Who Speaks for God
6 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and honored. His long clothing spread out and filled the house of God. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 One called out to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of All. The whole earth is full of His shining-greatness.” 4 And the base of the doorways shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “It is bad for me, for I am destroyed! Because I am a man whose lips are unclean. And I live among a people whose lips are unclean. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of All.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal which he had taken from the altar using a special tool. 7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “See, this has touched your lips, and your guilt is taken away. Your sin is forgiven.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom should I send? Who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go, and tell these people, ‘You hear and hear but do not understand. You look and look but do not see.’ 10 Make the hearts of these people hard. May their ears hear little and their eyes see little. Or they will see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and turn again and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are destroyed and empty, and until houses are without people and the land is laid waste. 12 Until the Lord has taken men far away, and there are many places with no people in the land. 13 Yet one tenth part of the people will stay in it. But it will be burned again, like an oak tree whose roots are still there when it is cut down. The holy seed is all that will be left (of Israel).”
Christian Living
13 Keep on loving each other as Christian brothers. 2 Do not forget to be kind to strangers and let them stay in your home. Some people have had angels in their homes without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison. Think of them as if you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering because of what others have done to them. You may suffer in the same way.
4 Marriage should be respected by everyone. God will punish those who do sex sins and are not faithful in marriage.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money. Be happy with what you have. God has said, “I will never leave you or let you be alone.” (A) 6 So we can say for sure, “The Lord is my Helper. I am not afraid of anything man can do to me.” (B)
7 Remember your leaders who first spoke God’s Word to you. Think of how they lived, and trust God as they did. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9 Do not let the many strange teachings lead you in the wrong way. Our hearts are made strong by God’s loving-favor. Food does not make our hearts strong. Those who obey laws about eating certain foods are not helped by them. 10 We have an altar from which those who work in the place of worship have no right to eat.
11 The head religious leader takes the blood of animals into the holy place to give it on the altar for sins. But the bodies of the animals are burned outside the city. 12 It was the same with Jesus. He suffered and died outside the city so His blood would make the people clean from sin. 13 So let us go to Him outside the city to share His shame. 14 For there is no city here on earth that will last forever. We are looking for the one that is coming. 15 Let us give thanks all the time to God through Jesus Christ. Our gift to Him is to give thanks. Our lips should always give thanks to His name. 16 Remember to do good and help each other. Gifts like this please God.
17 Obey your leaders and do what they say. They keep watch over your souls. They have to tell God what they have done. They should have joy in this and not be sad. If they are sad, it is no help to you.
18 Pray for us. Our hearts tell us we are right. We want to do the right thing always. 19 Pray for me all the more so that I will be able to come to you soon.
20 God is a God of peace. He raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. Jesus is the Good Shepherd of the sheep. His blood made the New Way of Worship which will last forever. 21 May God give you every good thing you need so you can do what He wants. May He do in us what pleases Him through Jesus Christ. May Christ have all the shining-greatness forever! Let it be so. 22 Christian brothers, I beg of you to listen to these words that will help you. This has been a short letter. 23 I want you to know that Timothy is out of prison. If he comes soon, I will bring him with me when I come to see you. 24 Greet all of your leaders and to all those who belong to Christ. The Christians from the country of Italy greet you. 25 May all of you have God’s loving-favor. Let it be so.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.