M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Zelophehad’s Daughters(A)
27 Now the daughters of Hepher’s son Zelophehad, Gilead’s grandson, who had been fathered by Machir, who had been fathered by Manasseh, from the tribe of Manasseh, the direct son of Joseph, were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached 2 Moses, Eleazar the priest, the elders, and the entire community at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before them, and said, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness, but he wasn’t with the company of those who gathered against the Lord along with the company of Korah. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why are you going to eliminate the name of our father from his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession from among our father’s relatives.”
5 So Moses brought the family into the Lord’s presence, 6 and the Lord told Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are telling the truth. You are certainly to give to them a possession for an inheritance among their father’s relatives. You are to pass on the inheritance of their father to them. 8 Tell the Israelis that when a man dies without a son, you are to pass his inheritance to his daughter. 9 If he doesn’t have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he doesn’t have brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father doesn’t have brothers, then give his inheritance to a relative who is nearest to him from the family and he’ll take possession of it. This is to be a permanent ordinance[a] for the Israelis, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Preparations for a Successor to Moses
12 Then the Lord told Moses, “You are to climb these Abarim mountains and look over the land that I’m going to give the Israelis. 13 After you’ve seen it, you’ll be taken to be with your people just as your brother Aaron was gathered to them,[b] 14 because in the wilderness of Zin, when the community rebelled, you rebelled against my command to treat me as holy before their eyes in regards to the Meribah Springs in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”
15 Moses responded to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord God of the spirits of all living creatures appoint a man over the community 17 who will go in and out before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in so that the Lord’s community won’t be like a flock without a shepherd.”
God Appoints Joshua
18 “Select Nun’s son Joshua. The Spirit is in that man,” the Lord answered Moses. “You are to lay your hand on him 19 and make him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the entire community. Then you are to set him in charge right before their eyes, 20 turning over your authority[c] to him so that the entire community of Israel knows to[d] obey him. 21 You are to make him stand in the presence of Eleazar the priest, who is to inquire on his behalf using the Urim[e] in the presence of the Lord regarding a decision of judgment, because by his command[f] he and all the Israelis with him will go out or come in.”
22 So Moses did what the Lord had commanded him. He took Joshua, made him stand in the presence of Eleazar the priest and the entire community, 23 laid his hands on him, and charged him, just as the Lord had commanded, using Moses’ authority.[g]
To the Music director. Davidic. As a memorial.
A Call for Help
70 God, come to my rescue.
Lord, hurry to help me.
2 May those who seek to kill me be publicly humiliated.
May those who take pleasure in my harm
be turned back in humiliation.
3 May those who say “Aha! Aha!”
be turned back because of their shameful deeds.[a]
4 Let those who seek you greatly rejoice in you.
Let those who love your deliverance say,
“May God be continuously exalted.”
5 As for me, I am poor and needy.
God, come quickly to me.
You are my helper and my deliverer.
Lord, please do not delay.
A Prayer for Deliverance
71 In you, Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be humiliated.
2 Rescue and deliver me,[b] because you are righteous.
Turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my sheltering refuge where I may go continuously;
command my deliverance
for you are my rock and fortress.
4 My God, deliver me from the power of the wicked
and the grasp of ruthless practicers of evil.
5 For you are my hope, Lord God,
my security since I was young.
6 I depended on you since birth,[c]
when you brought me[d] from my mother’s womb;
I praise you continuously.
7 I have become an example to many
that you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise
and your splendor daily.
9 Don’t throw me away when I am old;
do not abandon me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies talk against me;
those who seek to kill me plot together
11 and say, “God has abandoned him.
Run after him and seize him,
because there’s no deliverer.”
12 God, do not be distant from me.
My God, come quickly to help me.
13 Let my adversaries be ashamed and consumed;[e]
let those who seek my destruction
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 As for me, I will hope continuously
and will praise you more and more.
15 I[f] will declare your righteousness
and your salvation every day,
though I do not fully understand
what the outcome will be.[g]
16 Lord God, I will come in the power of[h] your mighty acts,
remembering your righteousness—yours alone.
17 God, you taught me from my youth,
so I am still declaring your awesome deeds.
18 Also, when I reach old age and have gray hair,
God, do not forsake me,
until I have declared your power
to this generation
and your might to the next one.
19 Your many righteous deeds,[i] God, are great,
20 God, who can compare to you,
who caused me to experience[j] troubles
that were numerous and disastrous?
You will return to revive me
and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
22 I also will praise you with the harp;
because of your faithfulness, my God,
I will praise you with the lyre—
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you,
whose life you have redeemed.
24 Moreover, my tongue will speak all day about your justice;
for those who seek my destruction will be utterly humiliated.
A Rebuke to Damascus
17 A message[a] about Damascus:[b]
“Look! Damascus[c] will cease to be a city.
Instead, it will become a pile of ruins.
2 The cities of Oraru[d] will be deserted—
they will be devoted to herds that will lay at rest,
and terrorism will be no more.[e]
3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal authority from Damascus;[f]
the survivors[g] from Aram[h] will be like the glory of the Israelis,”
declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
A Time of Weakness for Israel
4 “At that time,[i] Jacob’s glory will have become weakened,
and his strong[j] flesh will turn gaunt;
5 it will be as if harvesters gather standing grain,
reaping the ears by hand,[k]
or it will be as if grain is harvested
in the valley of Rephaim.[l]
6 Nevertheless, gleanings will remain in Israel,[m]
as when an olive tree is beaten—[n]
two or three ripe olives left in the topmost branches,
four or five left among the branches of a fruit-filled tree,”[o]
declares the Lord God of Israel.
Revival to Come to Israel
7 At that time, men will look upon[p] their Maker, and their eyes will honor the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not look upon[q] the altars, the products[r] that their own fingers[s] have made, and they will have no regard for Asherah poles[t] or incense altars.[u]
Desolation to the Nations
9 “At that time,[v] their fortified cities
that they abandoned because of the Israelis
will be like desolate places[w] of the forests and hilltops—[x]
there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and have not remembered the Rock
that is your strength.
Therefore even though you plant delightful plants,
sowing them with imported vine-seedlings,
11 at the time that you plant them,
carefully making them grow,
the very morning you make your seed to sprout,
your harvest will be ruined[y]
in a time of grief and unbearable pain.”[z]
12 “How terrible it will be for many peoples,
who rage like the roaring sea!
Oh, how the uproar of nations
is like the sound of rushing, mighty water—
How they roar!
13 The nations roar like the rushing of many waters,[aa]
but the Lord[ab] will rebuke them,
and they will run far away,
chased like chaff blown down from the mountains
or like thick dust[ac] that rolls along,
blown along by a wind storm.
14 When the evening arrives, watch out—sudden terror!
By morning they will be there no longer!
So it will be for those who plunder us
and what will happen to those who rob us.”
A Rebuke to Cush
18 Woe to the land of whirring wings
that is beyond the rivers of Cush,[ad]
2 which sends envoys by the sea,[ae]
in papyrus boats over the water!
Go, swift messengers,
to a tall, smooth-skinned nation,
to a people feared far and wide,
a nation that metes out[af] punishment[ag] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
you’ll see it.
When a trumpet sounds,
you’ll hear it!
4 For this is what the Lord told me:
“I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place
like dazzling heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat[ah] of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the season of[ai] budding is over,
and sour grapes ripen into mature grapes,[aj]
he cuts off the shoots with pruning knives,
clearing away the spreading branches
as he lops them off.
6 And[ak] they will all be left
for birds of prey that live on the mountains[al]
and for wild animals.[am]
Birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them,
and all the wild animals[an] will pass the winter feeding[ao] on them.
7 At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
from[ap] a tall and smooth-skinned people,
from a people feared far and wide,
a nation that metes out[aq] punishment[ar] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide,
to Mount Zion,
the place that bears[as] the name of the Lord.[at]
Be Shepherds of God’s Flock
5 Therefore, as a fellow elder, a witness of the Messiah’s[a] sufferings, and one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over it, not because you must but because you want to, and not greedily but eagerly, as God desires. 3 Do not lord it over the people entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. 4 Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the victor’s crown of glory that will never fade away.
Be Humble and Alert
5 In a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders.[b] All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because:
“God opposes the arrogant,
but gives grace to the humble.”[c]
6 Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you. 7 Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent, the Devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him and be firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah[d] Jesus[e] to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you. 11 Power belongs[f] to him forever and ever! Amen.
Final Greeting
12 Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is to be the true grace of God in which you are to stand firm! 13 Your sister church[g] in Babylon, chosen along with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, whom I regard as a son. 14 Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace be to all of you who are in the Messiah![h]
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