M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Second Census of Israel
26 After the plague was over, the Lord told Moses and Aaron the priest’s son Eleazar, 2 “Take a census[a] of the entire community of Israel from the age of 20 years and above, according to each ancestral tribe, counting everyone who is able to go out to war in Israel.”
3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River[b] in Jericho. 4 They counted every male Israeli who had come out of Egypt and who was 20 years old and above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
5 From Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the descendants of Reuben included from Hanoch, the family of the descendants of Hanoch; from Pallu, the family of the descendants of Pallu; 6 from Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Carmi, the family of the descendants of Carmi. 7 These families of the descendants of Reuben numbered 43,730.
8 Now Pallu’s son was Eliab. 9 The descendants of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were removed from the community because they joined the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, as did Korah’s company when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The ground had opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with Korah. Also, that group died when the fire devoured 250 men as a warning sign, 11 but Korah’s direct descendants didn’t die.
12 The descendants of Simeon, listed according to their families, included: From Nemuel, the family of the descendants of Nemuel; from Jamin, the family of the descendants of Jamin; from Jachin, the family of the descendants of Jachin; 13 from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah; and from Shaul, the family of the descendants of Shaul. 14 These families of the descendants of Simeon numbered 22,200.
15 The descendants of Gad, listed according to their families, included: From Zephon, the family of the descendants of Zephon; from Haggi, the family of the descendants of Haggi; from Shuni, the family of the descendants of Shuni; 16 from Ozni, the family of the descendants of Ozni; from Eri, the family of the descendants of Eri; 17 from Arod, the family of the descendants of Arod; and from Areli, the family of the descendants of Areli. 18 These families of the descendants of Gad numbered 40,500.
19 The descendants of Judah originally included Er and Onan, though Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 The descendants of Judah, listed according to their families, included: From Shelah, the family of the descendants of Shelah; from Perez, the family of the descendants of Perez; and from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah. 21 The descendants of Perez included: From Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Hamul, the family of the descendants of Hamul. 22 These families of Judah numbered 76,500.
23 The tribe of Issachar, listed according to their families, included: From Tola, the family of the descendants of Tola; from Puvah, the family of the descendants of Puvah; 24 from Jashub, the family of the descendants of Jashub; and from Shimron, the family of the descendants of Shimron. 25 These families of Issachar numbered 64,300.
26 The tribe of Zebulun, listed according to their families, included: From Sered, the family of the descendants of Sered; from Elon, the family of the descendants of Elon; and from Jahleel, the family of the descendants of Jahleel. 27 These families of the descendants of Zebulun numbered 60,500.
28 The tribe of Joseph, listed according to their families, included Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The descendants of Manasseh included: From Machir, the family of the descendants of Machir. (Machir was the father of Gilead.) From Gilead, the family of the Gileadites 30 included: From Iezer, the family of the descendants of Iezer; from Helek, the family of the descendants of Helek; 31 from Asriel, the family of the descendants of Asriel; from Shechem, the family of the descendants of Shechem; 32 from Shemida, the family of the descendants of Shemida; and from Hepher, the family of the descendants of Hepher. 33 Hepher’s son Zelophehad had no sons, but the names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These families of Manasseh numbered 52,700.
35 The descendants of Ephraim, listed according to their families, included: From Shuthelah, the family of the descendants of Shuthelah; from Becher, the family of the descendants of Becher; and from Tahan, the family of the descendants of Tahan. 36 The descendants of Shuthelah included from Eran, the family of the descendants of Eran. 37 These families of Ephraim numbered 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph, listed according to their families.
38 The tribe of Benjamin, listed according to their families, included: From Bela, the family of the descendants of Bela; from Ashbel, the family of the descendants of Ashbel; from Ahiram, the family of the descendants of Ahiram; 39 from Shephupham, the family of the descendants of Shephupham; and from Hupham, the family of the descendants of Hupham. 40 The descendants of Bela were Ard and Naaman: From Ard, the family of the descendants of Ard; and from Naaman, the family of the descendants of Naaman. 41 These descendants of Benjamin’s families numbered 45,600.
42 The tribe of Dan, listed according to their families, included the families of the descendants of Shuham. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites numbered 64,400.
44 The tribe of Asher, listed according to their families, included: From Imnah, the family of the descendants of Imnah; from Ishvi, the family of the descendants of Ishvi; and from Beriah, the family of the descendants of Beriah. 45 The descendants of Beriah included: From Heber, the family of the descendants of Heber; and from Malchiel, the family of the descendants of Malchiel. 46 (The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.) 47 These descendants of Asher numbered 53,400.
48 The tribe of Naphtali, listed according to their families, included: From Jahzeel, the family of the descendants of Jahzeel; from Guni, the family of the descendants of Guni; 49 from Jezer, the family of the descendants of Jezer; and from Shillem, the family of the descendants of Shillem. 50 These families of Naphtali numbered 45,400.
51 The total[c] of those numbered among the Israelis was 601,730.
Instructions on Dividing the Land
52 Then the Lord told Moses, 53 “The land is to be divided for an inheritance according to the total number of these names. 54 The more there are in number,[d] you are to increase their inheritance, and the less there are in number, you are to decrease their inheritance. You are to provide an inheritance to each based on the size of their family, 55 but the land is to be divided by lot, inheriting according to the names of their ancestor’s tribe. 56 Depending on the lot, the portion of their inheritance is to be divided between those with more members[e] and those with fewer members.”[f]
Levitical Genealogies
57 Those who were numbered from the descendants of Levi, listed according to their families, included: From Gershon, the family of the descendants of Gershon; from Kohath, the family of the descendants of Kohath; and from Merari, the family of the descendants of Merari. 58 These were the families of Levi: The family of the descendants of Libni, the family of the descendants of Hebron, the family of the descendants of Mahli, the family of the descendants of Musha, and the family of the descendants of Korah.
Now Kohath had a son named Amram. 59 Amram’s wife was Levi’s daughter Jochebed, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She gave birth to Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
60 To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire in the Lord’s presence. 62 All of those individuals numbered 23,000. No male from the age of a month and above was numbered among the Israelis because no inheritance was to be assigned to them among the Israelis.
63 So this has been a list of those who were registered[g] by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they numbered the Israelis in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But none of these men among these numbered by Moses and by Aaron the priest (that is, when they numbered the Israelis in the wilderness of Sinai) survived to enter the land, 65 because the Lord had said about them, “They’ll certainly die in the wilderness. No man will survive from them except Jephunneh’s son Caleb and Nun’s son Joshua.”
To the Director: To the tune of[a] “The Lilies”. Davidic.
When God Seems Distant
69 Deliver me, God,
because the waters are up to my neck.[b]
2 I am sinking in deep mire,
and there is no solid ground.[c]
I have come into deep water,
and the flood overwhelms me.
3 I am exhausted from calling for help.
My throat is parched.
My eyes are strained from looking for God.
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more than the hairs of my head.
My persecutors are mighty,
and they want to destroy me.
Must I be forced to return what I did not steal?
5 God, you know my sins,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed
because of me,
Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.
Let not those who seek you be humiliated
because of me,
God of Israel.
7 I am being mocked because of you.
Dishonor overwhelms me.
8 I am a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 Zeal for your house consumes me,
and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me.
10 I weep and fast,
and I am mocked for it.
11 When I dressed in sackcloth,
I became an object of gossip among them.
12 The prominent people mock me,
composing drinking songs.
Seeking God for Deliverance
13 As for me, Lord, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time.
God, in the abundance of your gracious love,
answer me with your sure deliverance.
14 Rescue me from the mud
and do not let me sink.
Rescue me from those who hate me,
and from the deep waters.
15 Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me
nor let the deep swallow me up,
nor the mouth of the well close over me.
16 Answer me, Lord, for your gracious love is good;
Turn to me in keeping with your great compassion,
17 and[d] do not ignore your servant,
because I am in distress.
Hurry to answer me!
18 Draw near and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.
19 Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace.
All my enemies are known to[e] you.
20 Insults broke my heart.
I despaired and looked for sympathy;
but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put poison in my food,
in my thirst they forced me to drink vinegar.
22 May their dining[f] tables entrap them,
and become a snare for their allies.
23 May their eyes be blinded
and may their bodies tremble continuously.
24 May you pour out your fury on them.
May your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp become desolate
and their tents remain unoccupied.
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck,
and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 May you punish them for their crimes;
may they receive no verdict of innocence[g] from you.
28 May they be erased from the Book of Life,
and their names not be written with the righteous.
29 As for me, I am afflicted and hurting;
may your deliverance, God, establish me on high.
30 Let me praise the name of God with a song
that I may magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 That will please the Lord
more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.
32 The afflicted will watch and rejoice.
May you who seek God take courage.
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and doesn’t despise those in bondage.
34 Let the heavens and earth praise him,
along with the sea and its swarming creatures.[h]
35 For God will deliver Zion
and will rebuild the cities of Judah
so they may live there and possess them.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who cherish his name will live there.
Moab’s Destruction
16 “Send a lamb to the ruler of the land,
from Selah,[a] by way of the desert,
to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion.[b]
2 Like fluttering birds,
like an abandoned nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon River.[c]
3 “Give us advice;
reach a decision!
Cast your shadow as if night had come
at high noon.
Shelter the fugitives,
And don’t betray a single refugee.
4 Let the fugitives[d] from Moab
settle among you;
be a shelter to them
from the destroyer.
When the oppressor comes to an end,
and destruction has[e] ceased,
and the marauder[f] has[g] vanished from the land,
5 then a throne will be established in gracious love,
and there will sit in faithfulness—
in the Tent of David—
one who judges, seeks justice,
and is swift to do what is right.”
6 “We’ve heard about Moab’s pride—
so very proud he became!—[h]
his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
therefore he is alone.[i]
7 Therefore, let Moab not[j] wail,
let everyone wail for Moab.
Lament and grieve deeply
for the ruined remains[k] of Kir-hareseth.
8 For the fields of Heshbon wither,
as well as the vines of Sibmah.[l]
The rulers of the nations
have struck down its choicest vines,
which once reached Jazer
and pushed to the desert.
Its shoots spread out
and passed over the sea.”
Isaiah Weeps for Moab
9 “Therefore I weep with the tears of Jazer
for the vines of Sibmah.
I drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh—
for the shouts of joy over your summer fruit
and your grain harvest have ended.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards,
in the vineyards people will sing no songs,[m]
and[n] no cheers are raised.
No vintner[o] treads out wine in the presses,
because I’ve put an end to the shouting.
11 Therefore my insides[p] moan like a lyre for Moab,
and my innermost being[q] for Kir-hareseth.
12 When Moab appears,
when he arrives[r] upon the high place
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
he will not prevail.”
13 This was the message that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken again: “Within three years, like the years of a contract worker,[s] Moab’s glory will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude, and its survivors will be very few and[t] of no importance.”
Good Managers of God’s Grace
4 Therefore, since the Messiah[a] suffered in a mortal body,[b] you, too, must arm yourselves with the same determination, because the person who has suffered in a mortal body has stopped sinning, 2 so that he can live the rest of his mortal life[c] guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God. 3 For you spent enough time in the past doing what the gentiles like to do, living in sensuality, sinful desires, drunkenness, wild celebrations, drinking parties, and detestable idolatry. 4 They insult you now because they are surprised that you are no longer joining them in the same excesses of wild living. 5 They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 Indeed, this is why the gospel was proclaimed even to those who have died, so that they could be judged in their mortal flesh like all humans and live in the spiritual realm like God.
7 Because everything will soon come to an end, be sensible and clear-headed, so you can pray. 8 Above all, continue to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10 As good servant managers of God’s grace in its various forms, serve one another with the gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must speak God’s words.[d] Whoever serves must serve with the strength[e] that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah.[f] Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.
Suffering as a Christian
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, because you are participating in the sufferings of the Messiah,[g] keep on rejoicing, so that you may be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of the Messiah,[h] you are blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God is resting on you.[i]
15 Of course, none of you should suffer for being a murderer, thief, criminal, or troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not feel ashamed, but glorify God with that name. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who refuse to obey the gospel of God?
18 “If it is hard for the righteous person to be saved,
what will happen to the ungodly and sinful person?”[j]
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do what is good.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.