M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
War against Midian
31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Punish the Midianites for the people of Israel. After that you will be buried with your people.” 3 Then Moses said to the people, “Take men from among you and make them ready for war against Midian. They will punish Midian for the Lord. 4 Send to the war 1,000 men from each of all the family groups of Israel.” 5 So 1,000 men came from each of the family groups of the thousands of Israel. There were 12,000 ready for war. 6 Moses sent them, 1,000 from each family group, to the war. Phinehas the son of Eleazar the religious leader went to the war with them. In his hand were the holy objects and the horns for blowing the sound of coming danger. 7 So the men made war against Midian, just as the Lord had told Moses, and they killed every male. 8 They killed the five kings of Midian with the sword also, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 The people of Israel took the women of Midian and their little ones, and all their cattle, all their flocks, and all the good things that belonged to them. 10 Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their tents. 11 They took all that was left of both man and animal. 12 And they brought the people they had taken and the animals and whatever belonged to them to Moses, and to Eleazar the religious leader, and to the people of Israel. Their tents were on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.
13 Moses and Eleazar the religious leader and all the leaders of the people went out from the tents to meet them. 14 Moses was angry with the leaders of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, who had fought in the war. 15 He said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16 See, these women listened to Balaam and caused the people of Israel to sin against the Lord in what happened at Peor. So the very bad disease came to the people of the Lord. 17 Now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had a man. 18 But keep alive for yourselves all the girls who have not had a man. 19 Stay away from the tents for seven days. If you have killed any person or have touched any dead body, you must make yourself and those you have taken clean, on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You must clean every piece of clothing, everything made of leather, everything made of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the religious leader said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the Law which the Lord has told Moses. 22 Take the gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead, 23 everything that can last through fire. Pass it through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must be made pure with the water for cleaning. Whatever cannot last through fire you must pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be clean. Then you may come among the tents.”
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the religious leader and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people should number all that was taken from the battle, both of man and animal. 27 Divide what was taken between the men of war who went to battle and all the people. 28 Then take a tax for the Lord from the men of war who went out to battle. Take one out of 500 of the persons and the cattle and the donkeys and the sheep. 29 Take this from their half and give it to Eleazar the religious leader, as a gift to the Lord. 30 From the half belonging to the people of Israel, take one out of every fifty of the persons and cattle and donkeys and sheep and all the animals. Give them to the Levites who take care of the meeting tent of the Lord.” 31 Moses and Eleazar the religious leader did just as the Lord had told Moses.
32 What was left from that which the men of war had taken was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, of women who had never had a man. 36 The half taken by those who went out to war was 337,500 sheep. 37 The Lord’s tax was 675 sheep. 38 There were 36,000 cattle, from which the Lord’s tax was seventy-two. 39 There were 30,500 donkeys, from which the Lord’s tax was sixty-one. 40 And there were 16,000 persons, from whom the Lord’s tax was thirty-two. 41 Moses gave the tax, which was the Lord’s gift, to Eleazar the religious leader, just as the Lord had told Moses.
42 Moses divided the people of Israel’s half from the men who had gone to war. 43 The people’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons. 47 Moses took one out of every fifty of both man and animal from the people of Israel’s half. He gave them to the Levites, who took care of the meeting tent of the Lord, just as the Lord had told Moses.
48 Then the leaders of the thousands of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, came to Moses. 49 They said to him, “Your servants have numbered the men of war whom we lead. Not one man is missing from us. 50 We have brought as a gift to the Lord what each man found, objects of gold, things to be worn on the arms and fingers and ears and necks. They are to pay for our sins before the Lord.” 51 Moses and Eleazar the religious leader took the gold from them, all the objects made of beaten gold. 52 All the gold of the gift they gave to the Lord from the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds was worth 16,750 gold pieces. 53 For the men of war had taken things from the battle, every man for himself. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the religious leader took the gold from the heads of thousands and of hundreds. They brought it to the meeting tent so that the people of Israel would be remembered before the Lord.
God Puts Down the Proud and Lifts Up Those Who Are Right with Himself
75 We give thanks to You, O God. We give thanks that Your name is near. Men tell about the great things You have done. 2 You say, “When the right time has come, I will be right and fair in deciding who is guilty or not. 3 When the earth and all its people shake, it is I Who will hold it together. 4 I said to the proud, ‘Do not speak with pride.’ And I said to the sinful, ‘Do not lift up the horn. 5 Do not lift your horn up high. Do not speak in your pride.’”
6 For honor does not come from the east or the west or from the desert. 7 But God is the One Who decides. He puts down one and brings respect to another. 8 For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand. It is full of strong wine that is well mixed. He pours out from it, and all the sinful people of the earth must drink all of it.
9 But as for me, I will tell of it forever. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 He will cut off all the horns of the sinful. But the horns of those who are right with God will be lifted up.
The Power That Wins
76 God is known in Judah. His name is great in Israel. 2 His holy tent of worship is in Salem. He lives in Zion. 3 There He broke the burning arrows, the iron covering and the sword, and all the things used for fighting in war.
4 You are shining with greatness, more beautiful than the mountains with many animals. 5 Strong men have been robbed. They sleep their last sleep. Not one of the soldiers can lift his hands. 6 O God of Jacob, both soldier and horse were put in a dead sleep because of Your sharp words. 7 You alone are to be feared. Who may stand before You when You are angry?
8 You said from heaven who is guilty or not. The earth was afraid and quiet 9 when God stood up to say who is guilty or not, and to save all the people of the earth who are not proud. 10 For the anger of man will praise You. And You will keep what is left of anger around You.
11 Make promises to the Lord your God and keep them. Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him, Who is to be feared. 12 He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.
Word about Tyre
23 The special word about Tyre: Cry out in sorrow, O ships of Tarshish. For Tyre is destroyed, so that there is no house or safe place for ships. It is made known to them from the land of Cyprus. 2 Be quiet, you people who live on the islands, you traders of Sidon. You sent men to cross the sea 3 and go on many waters. The grain of the Nile, that was gathered beside that River, made money for Tyre who was the trader of the nations. 4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, the strong-place of the sea. The sea speaks and says, “I have not suffered or given birth. I have not brought up young men or young women.” 5 When the news comes to Egypt, they will be in pain when they hear about Tyre. 6 Pass over to Tarshish. Cry out in sorrow, O people of the islands. 7 Is this your joy-filled city, whose beginning was long ago, whose feet have taken her to live in places far away?
8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose traders were princes and the honored of the earth? 9 The Lord of All has planned it, to put to shame the pride of all beauty, and to take honor away from all the honored of the earth. 10 Flow over your land like the Nile, O people of Tarshish. There is nothing holding you back any more. 11 He has put out His hand over the sea. He has made the nations shake with fear. The Lord has said that the strong-places of Canaan must be destroyed. 12 He has said, “You will not be filled with joy anymore, O pure crushed daughters of Sidon. Get up and go over to Cyprus. Even there you will not find any rest.”
13 It was the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, who let the wild animals come upon Tyre. They built towers for their armies. They tore down her beautiful houses. They destroyed her. 14 Cry out in sorrow, O ships of Tarshish, for your strong-place is destroyed. 15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the woman who sells the use of her body: 16 “Take your harp and walk through the city, O forgotten woman who sells the use of her body. Play the strings well. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” 17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she will return to her sinful woman’s pay. She will be as a woman who sells the use of her body to all the nations on the earth. 18 Her riches and her pay for selling the use of her body will be set apart to the Lord. It will not be stored up or saved. But what she receives will give much food and good clothes to those who live for the Lord.
Christ—the Word of Life
1 Christ is the Word of Life. He was from the beginning. We have heard Him and have seen Him with our own eyes. We have looked at Him and put our hands on Him. 2 Christ Who is Life was shown to us. We saw Him. We tell you and preach about the Life that lasts forever. He was with the Father and He has come down to us. 3 We are preaching what we have heard and seen. We want you to share together with us what we have with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing this to you so our joy may be full.
Christians Are to Live in the Light
5 This is what we heard Him tell us. We are passing it on to you. God is light. There is no darkness in Him. 6 If we say we are joined together with Him but live in darkness, we are telling a lie. We are not living the truth. 7 If we live in the light as He is in the light, we share what we have in God with each other. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, makes our lives clean from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we lie to ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar. And His Word is not in our hearts.
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