M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Battle with the Canaanites
21 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them against their will. 2 So Israel made a promise to the Lord, and said, “If You will give this people into my hand, I will destroy every part of their cities.” 3 The Lord heard the voice of Israel, and gave them the Canaanites. Then Israel destroyed all of them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah.
The Brass Snake
4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people wanted to give up because of the long way. 5 They spoke against God and Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is no food and no water. And we hate this bad food.” 6 Then the Lord sent snakes with a bite of poison among the people. They bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord, that He will take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a special snake and put it up on a long piece of wood. Everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it.” 9 So Moses made a brass snake and put it up on the long piece of wood. If a snake bit any man, he would live when he looked at the brass snake.
From Mount Hor to Moab
10 The people of Israel traveled on, and set up their tents in Oboth. 11 Then they left Oboth and stopped at Iye-abarim, in the desert beside Moab, to the east. 12 From there they traveled on to Wadi Zered. 13 And from there they traveled on and set up their tents on the other side of the Arnon. It is in the desert that goes out from the land of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the side of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 So it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord: “Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon, 15 and the hill-side of the valleys that goes to the place of Ar, and rests on the side of Moab.” 16 From there they went on to Beer. That is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so I may give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song: “Come up, O well! Sing to it! 18 The well, which the leaders dug, which the rulers of the people dug, with the special stick of power and with their walking sticks.” From the desert they went on to Mattanah. 19 From Mattanah they went to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth. 20 From Bamoth they went to the valley in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which looks down upon the desert.
Battle with Amorites
21 Then Israel sent men to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vines. We will not drink water from wells. We will go on the king’s road until we have passed through your country.” 23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his country. He gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the desert. He came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then Israel killed Sihon with the sword. They took his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon. For Jazer was the side of the land of the Ammonites. 25 Israel took all these cities. They lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its towns. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites. He had fought against the man who was once the king of Moab, and had taken all his land as far as the Arnon. 27 So those who use wise sayings say, “Come to Heshbon! Let it be built! Let the city of Sihon be built. 28 For a fire went out from Heshbon, fire from the city of Sihon. It burned up Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of the Arnon. 29 It is bad for you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! His sons run for their lives. His daughters have been taken against their will by an Amorite king, Sihon. 30 But we have put them down. Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We have destroyed even to Nophah, which goes to Medeba.” 31 So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Then Moses sent men to spy out Jazer in secret. And Israel took its towns and took the place of the Amorites who were there.
King Og Killed
33 Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people to battle at Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him. For I have given him into your hand, with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So the people of Israel killed Og and his sons and all his people, until there was not one left alive. And they took his land.
Prayer for Help
60 O God, You have turned away from us. You have broken us. You have been angry. O heal us and turn to us again. 2 You have made the land shake. You have torn it open. Heal it where it is broken, for it shakes. 3 You have made Your people suffer hard things. You have given us wine to drink that makes us not able to walk straight. 4 You have given a flag to those who fear You, so it may be seen because of the truth. 5 Save us with Your right hand, and answer us, so Your loved ones may be set free.
6 God has said in His holy place: “I will be full of joy. I will divide Shechem and the valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is Mine. And Manasseh is Mine. Ephraim is the covering for My head. Judah is My Law giver. 8 Moab is where I wash My hands. I will throw My shoe over Edom. Call out, Philistia, because of me.”
9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? 10 Have You not turned away from us, O God? And will You not go out with our armies, O God? 11 O give us help against those who hate us. For the help of man is worth nothing. 12 With God’s help we will do well. And He will break under His feet those who fight against us.
A Safe Place in God
61 Hear my cry, O God. Listen to my prayer. 2 I call to You from the end of the earth when my heart is weak. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For You have been a safe place for me, a tower of strength where I am safe from those who fight against me. 4 Let me live in Your tent forever. Let me be safe under the covering of Your wings. 5 For You have heard my promises, O God. You have given me that which You give to those who fear Your name. 6 You will add days to the life of the king. His years will be as long as the lives of many children and grandchildren added together. 7 He will stay forever with God. Set apart loving-kindness and truth to keep him safe. 8 So I will sing thanks to Your name forever and keep my promises day by day.
Assyria Used to Punish Israel
5 It is bad for Assyria. I use Assyria like a stick to punish Israel. 6 I sent it against a nation without God, against the people of My anger. I sent it to take away the riches of battle, and to step hard on the people like dirt in the streets. 7 But this is not what is in Assyria’s mind. It does not plan this in its heart. It plans to destroy and to cut off many nations. 8 For it says, “Are not my princes all kings? 9 Is not Calno like Carchemish, or Hamath like Arpad, or Samaria like Damascus? 10 My hand took the nations of the false gods, whose false gods were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11 Should I not do to Jerusalem and her gods just as I have done to Samaria and her gods?”
12 So when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the proud heart of the king of Assyria and his proud spirit. 13 For the king has said, “I did this by the power of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. I moved the land-marks of the people and took their riches. Like a strong man I have brought down those who sat on thrones. 14 My hand has taken the riches of the people like one taken from a nest. I gathered all the earth as one gathers eggs that have been left. And there was not one that moved its wing or opened its mouth or made a sound.”
15 Can an ax say it is more important than the one who uses it? Is the saw more important than the one who saws with it? A stick of wood does not lift up a man. A man lifts up a stick. 16 So the Lord, the Lord of All, will send a wasting disease among the strong Assyrian soldiers. Under the king’s greatness a fire will be started that will burn and burn. 17 The light of Israel and his Holy One will become a fire. And it will burn and destroy his thorns and thistles in one day. 18 The Lord will destroy the greatness of the trees and the fields that give much fruit, both soul and body. It will be as when a sick man wastes away. 19 And the rest of his trees will be so few that a child could write them down.
A Few of Israel Will Return
20 In that day those of Israel and of the family of Jacob who are still alive will never again trust in the one who destroyed them. But they will trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 Some people, those who are left of Jacob, will return to the powerful God. 22 Even if there are as many Jews as the sand by the sea, only a few of them will return. The plan is to destroy them and it will be right and complete. 23 For the Lord of All will destroy everything in the whole land and do what He planned.
Assyria Will Be Punished
24 So the Lord, the Lord of All, says, “O My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they come to fight against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while My anger against you will come to an end and it will be turned to destroy them.” 26 The Lord of All will punish them like He punished Midian at the rock of Oreb. His special stick will be over the sea and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt. 27 In that day the Assyrian’s load will be taken from your shoulders and neck, and it will be broken because you are so fat. 28 He has come against Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he left his bags. 29 They have gone through a narrow path. They stayed in Geba during the night. Ramah is afraid, and Gibeah of Saul has run away. 30 Cry out with your voice, O people of Gallim! See, Laishah! Answer her, O Anathoth! 31 Madmenah has run away. The people of Gebim have looked for a safe place. 32 Yet today he will stop at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the people of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 See, the Lord, the Lord of All, will cut off the branches with a great noise. Those who stand tall will be cut down. And those who are high will be brought low. 34 He will cut down the many trees with an iron ax. And Lebanon will fall by the Powerful One.
4 What starts wars and fights among you? Is it not because you want many things and are fighting to have them? 2 You want something you do not have, so you kill. You want something but cannot get it, so you fight for it. You do not get things because you do not ask for them. 3 Or if you do ask, you do not receive because your reasons for asking are wrong. You want these things only to please yourselves.
4 You are as wives and husbands who are not faithful in marriage and do sex sins. Do you not know that to love the sinful things of the world and to be a friend to them is to be against God? Yes, I say it again, if you are a friend of the world, you are against God. 5 Do you think the Holy Writings mean nothing when they said, “The Holy Spirit Whom God has given to live in us has a strong desire for us to be faithful to Him”?
6 But He gives us more loving-favor. For the Holy Writings say, “God works against the proud but gives loving-favor to those who have no pride.” (A) 7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Clean up your hearts, you who want to follow the sinful ways of the world and God at the same time. 9 Be sorry for your sins and cry because of them. Be sad and do not laugh. Let your joy be turned to sorrow. 10 Let yourself be brought low before the Lord. Then He will lift you up and help you.
Do Not Talk Against Each Other
11 Christian brothers, do not talk against anyone or speak bad things about each other. If a person says bad things about his brother, he is speaking against him. And he will be speaking against God’s Law. If you say the Law is wrong, and do not obey it, you are saying you are better than the Law. 12 Only God can say what is right or wrong. He made the Law. He can save or put to death. How can we say if our brother is right or wrong?
13 Listen! You who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city and stay a year and make money.” 14 You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? It is like fog. You see it and soon it is gone. 15 What you should say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But instead you are proud. You talk loud and big about yourselves. All such pride is sin. 17 If you know what is right to do but you do not do it, you sin.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.