M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Balaam Tells What Will Happen the First Time

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me. And make ready seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ² Balak did as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam gave a bull and a ram on each altar in worship. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt gift, and I will go. It might be that the Lord will come to me. And whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went up to a hill without trees. ⁴ God met Balaam. Balaam said to Him, “I have made seven altars. And I have given a bull and a ram on each altar in worship.” ⁵ Then the Lord put words in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak. This is what you should say.” ⁶ So Balaam returned to Balak, and saw him and all the leaders of Moab standing beside his burnt gift. ⁷ Balaam began speaking and said, “Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me,’ he said. ‘Come, say that Israel should be punished!’ ⁸ How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I say that those should be punished whom God has not said should be punished? ⁹ I see Israel from the top of the rocks. I look at them from the hills. See, the people live apart. They will not be thought of as one of the nations. ¹⁰ Who can number the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of those who are right and good. Let my end be like theirs!”

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse those who hate me. But see, you have asked that good would come to them!” ¹² Balaam answered, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam Tells What Will Happen the Second Time

¹³ Balak said to him, “I beg you, come with me to another place from where you will see them. But you will only see a part of them and not all of them. Curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and gave a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt gift, while I meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ The Lord met Balaam and put words in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak. This is what you should say.” ¹⁷ So he returned to Balak, and saw him and all the leaders of Moab standing beside his burnt gift. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” ¹⁸ Then Balaam began speaking and said, “Rise, O Balak, and hear! Listen to me, O son of Zippor! ¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a son of man, that He should be sorry for what He has said. Has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not keep His Word? ²⁰ See, I have been told to speak good of Israel. When He has spoken good of them, I cannot change it. ²¹ No hard times are seen in Jacob. No trouble is seen in Israel. The Lord their God is with them. And the cry of a king is among them. ²² God brings them out of Egypt. He is for them like the horns of the wild bull. ²³ For there is no special thing that has been shown against Jacob. Nothing has told of a bad future for Israel. Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘Look what God has done!’ ²⁴ See, people rise like a female lion. It lifts itself like a lion. It will not lie down until it eats the food it has killed, and drinks the blood of the kill.” ²⁵ Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all or pray that good would come to them!” ²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must do whatever the Lord says?”

Balaam Tells What Will Happen the Third Time

²⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “I beg you, come. I will take you to another place. It might be that God will be pleased to have you curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which looks over the desert. ²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here. And make ready seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ³⁰ Balak did just as Balaam had said. He gave a bull and a ram on each altar in worship.

Prayer for a Safe Place

64 O God, hear my voice when I complain. Keep my life safe from the fear of those who hate me. ² Hide me from the secret plans of the sinful and from the noise of those who do bad things. ³ They have made their tongues sharp like a sword. They use poison words like arrows. ⁴ They shoot at the man without blame from their hiding place. They are quick to shoot at him and are not afraid. ⁵ They talk each other into doing sinful things. They talk about setting hidden traps. They say, “Who will see them?” ⁶ They think of ways to do bad things, and say, “We have made a perfect plan!” For the inside thoughts and the heart of a man are deep.

⁷ But God will shoot at them with an arrow. They will be hurt very soon. ⁸ They will be made to trip and fall. Their own tongue is against them. All who see them will shake their heads. ⁹ Then all men will be afraid. They will tell about the work of God. And they will think about what He has done. ¹⁰ The man who is right and good will be glad in the Lord and go to Him to be safe. All those whose hearts are right will give Him praise.

God’s Favor to Earth and Man

65 All will be quiet before You, and praise belongs to You, O God, in Zion. And our promise to You will be kept. ² O You Who hears prayer, to You all men come. ³ My sins are strong against me. But You forgive our sins. ⁴ Happy is the man You choose and bring near to You to live in Your holy place. We will be filled with the good things of Your house, Your holy house.

⁵ O God Who saves us, You answer us in the way that is right and good by Your great works that make people stand in fear. You are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. ⁶ You have built the mountains by Your strength. You are dressed with power. ⁷ You quiet the storm of the seas, the sound of their waves, and the noise of the people. ⁸ Those who live far away are afraid of Your great works. You make morning and evening call out for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it. You make it very rich. The river of God is full of water. You give the people grain when You have made the earth ready. ¹⁰ You water where the plow has been used. You cover the seeds with earth. You make it soft with rain. And You make the plants grow well. ¹¹ You crown the year with Your good gifts. There is more than enough where You have been. ¹² The fields of the desert are filled with water. And the hills dress themselves with joy. ¹³ The grass lands are covered with birds. And the valleys are covered with grain. They call out for joy and sing.

Babylon Will Be Punished

13 The special word about Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw: ² Lift up a flag on the hill without trees. Call out to the people. Wave the hand for them to go into the gates of the princes. ³ I have told My holy ones, and My powerful soldiers who take pride in their strength, to carry out My anger. ⁴ Listen to the noise on the mountains, like that of many people! Listen to the loud sound of the many people, of nations gathered together! The Lord of All is gathering an army for battle. ⁵ They are coming from a far country, from the end of the heavens. The Lord and all He is using to show His anger are coming to destroy the whole land. ⁶ Cry out in sorrow, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as a destroying power from the All-powerful. ⁷ So all hands will become weak, and every man’s heart will melt. ⁸ They will be filled with fear. Pain and suffering will take hold of them. They will suffer like a woman giving birth. They will look surprised at one another, their faces burning. ⁹ See, the day of the Lord is coming, without pity and with much anger. He is coming to destroy the land and its sinners from it. ¹⁰ The stars of heaven and every group of stars will not give out their light. The sun will be dark when it comes up, and the moon will not give its light. ¹¹ This is how I will punish the world for its sin, and the sinful for their wrong-doing. I will also put an end to those who are proud. And I will put to shame those who make it hard for others and show no pity. ¹² I will make men so few that they will be of more worth than pure gold, even the gold of Ophir. ¹³ I will make the heavens shake. And the earth will be shaken from its place with the anger of the Lord of All in the day of His burning anger. ¹⁴ Every man will turn to his own people and run to his own land like a hunted gazelle or like sheep with no shepherd. ¹⁵ Anyone who is found will have a spear put through him. And anyone who is caught will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their little ones will be broken in pieces in front of their eyes. Their things will be taken from their houses. And their wives will be carried away.

¹⁷ See, I am going to make the Medes go against them, who will not want silver or be happy with gold. ¹⁸ Their bows will cut down the young men. They will have no pity on babies. Their eyes will not pity children. ¹⁹ And Babylon, the beauty of nations, the shining-greatness and pride of the Babylonians, will be as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ People will never live in it again, even all the people-to-come. No Arab will set up his tent there. No shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. ²¹ But wild animals of the desert will lie down there. Their houses will be full of owls. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will play there. ²² Hyenas will make noise in their strong towers, and wild dogs in their beautiful houses. The end of her time is near. Her days will be few.

The Living Hope

1 This letter is from Peter, a missionary of Jesus Christ. I am writing to those who were taken away from their homeland and are living in the countries of Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia and Asia and Bithynia. ² You were chosen by God the Father long ago. He knew you were to become His children. You were set apart for holy living by the Holy Spirit. May you obey Jesus Christ and be made clean by His blood. May you be full of His loving-favor and peace.

³ Let us thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was through His loving-kindness that we were born again to a new life and have a hope that never dies. This hope is ours because Jesus was raised from the dead. ⁴ We will receive the great things that we have been promised. They are being kept safe in heaven for us. They are pure and will not pass away. They will never be lost. ⁵ You are being kept by the power of God because you put your trust in Him and you will be saved from the punishment of sin at the end of the world.

⁶ With this hope you can be happy even if you need to have sorrow and all kinds of tests for awhile. ⁷ These tests have come to prove your faith and to show that it is good. Gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire. Your faith is worth much more than gold and it must be tested also. Then your faith will bring thanks and shining-greatness and honor to Jesus Christ when He comes again. ⁸ You have never seen Him but you love Him. You cannot see Him now but you are putting your trust in Him. And you have joy so great that words cannot tell about it. ⁹ You will get what your faith is looking for, which is to be saved from the punishment of sin.

¹⁰ The early preachers tried to find out how to be saved. They told of the loving-favor that would come to you. ¹¹ The early preachers wondered at what time or to what person this would happen. The Spirit of Christ in them was talking to them and told them to write about how Christ would suffer and about His shining-greatness later on. ¹² They knew these things would not happen during the time they lived but while you are living many years later. These are the very things that were told to you by those who preached the Good News. The Holy Spirit Who was sent from heaven gave them power and they told of things that even the angels would like to know about.

Holy Living

¹³ Get your minds ready for good use. Keep awake. Set your hope now and forever on the loving-favor to be given you when Jesus Christ comes again. ¹⁴ Be like children who obey. Do not desire to sin like you used to when you did not know any better. ¹⁵ Be holy in every part of your life. Be like the Holy One Who chose you. ¹⁶ The Holy Writings say, “You must be holy, for I am holy.” ^{(A) 17} The Father is the One Who judges you by what you do. He does not respect one person more than another. If you call Him Father, be sure you honor Him with love and fear all the days of your life here on earth. ¹⁸ You know you were not bought and made free from sin by paying gold or silver which comes to an end. And you know you were not saved from the punishment of sin by the way of life that you were given from your early fathers. That way of life was worth nothing. ¹⁹ The blood of Christ saved you. This blood is of great worth and no amount of money can buy it. Christ was given as a lamb without sin and without spot. ²⁰ Long before the world was made, God chose Christ to be given to you in these last days. ²¹ Because of Christ, you have put your trust in God. He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great honor. So now your faith and hope are in God.

The Living Word

²² You have made your souls pure by obeying the truth through the Holy Spirit. This has given you a true love for the Christians. Let it be a true love from the heart. ²³ You have been given a new birth. It was from a seed that cannot die. This new life is from the Word of God which lives forever. ²⁴ All people are like grass. Their greatness is like the flowers. The grass dries up and the flowers fall off. ²⁵ But the Word of the Lord will last forever. That Word is the Good News which was preached to you.