M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Family Groups East of the Jordan

32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very many cattle. And they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle. ² So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and Eleazar the religious leader and the leaders of the people, ³ “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, ⁴ the land which the Lord won in battle in front of the people of Israel, is a land for cattle and your servants have cattle.” ⁵ And they said, “If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as our own. Do not take us to the other side of the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Should your brothers go to war while you sit here? ⁷ Why do you take from the people of Israel the desire to cross over into the land the Lord has given them? ⁸ This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ They went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land. Then they took the desire away from the people of Israel so that they did not go into the land the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So the Lord’s anger burned on that day, and He swore, saying ¹¹ ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, twenty years old and older, will see the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For they did not follow Me with all their heart. ¹² Only Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun will see it. For they have followed the Lord with all their hearts.’ ¹³ So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. He made them travel in the desert forty years, until all the people of that day who had sinned in the eyes of the Lord were destroyed. ¹⁴ Now see, you have grown up in your fathers’ place, children of sinful men. You add still more to the burning anger of the Lord against Israel. ¹⁵ For if you turn away from following Him, He will leave them in the desert again and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶ Then they came near him and said, “We will build safe places for our flocks here, and cities for our little ones. ¹⁷ But we will be ready for battle and will go with the people of Israel until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones will live within the walls of the cities because of the people who live in the land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our homes until every one of the people of Israel has received his land. ¹⁹ For we will not have any land among them on the other side of the Jordan. Our land has come to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

²⁰ So Moses said to them, “Do as you say. Get ready for war before the Lord. ²¹ All of you men of war cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven away those who fight against Him, ²² and has won the land in battle. Then after this you may return because you have done your duty to the Lord and to Israel. This land will be your land before the Lord. ²³ But if you do not do as you say, you have sinned against the Lord. And for sure you will be punished for your sin. ²⁴ Build cities for your little ones and places for your sheep. Then do what you have promised.” ²⁵ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord says. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks and all our cattle will stay there in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ But your servants, everyone who is ready for war, will cross over before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸ So Moses gave news about them to Eleazar the religious leader, Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the families of the people of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, every man ready for battle, are to cross with you over the Jordan before the Lord, and the land will be won. After this, you must give them the land of Gilead for their own. ³⁰ But if they will not cross over with you ready for battle, their land must be among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “We will do as the Lord has said to your servants. ³² We will cross over into the land of Canaan ready for battle before the Lord. And the land on this side of the Jordan will be ours.”

³³ So Moses gave the nations of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben and the half-family group of Joseph’s son Manasseh. He gave them the land, with its cities and the country around them. ³⁴ Then the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atrothshophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Bethnimrah and Beth-haran, cities with walls around them. And they made safe places for their sheep. ³⁷ The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo and Baal-meon (their names to be changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities they built. ³⁹ The sons of Manasseh’s son Machir went to Gilead and took it. They drove away the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. ⁴¹ Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth-jair. ⁴² Nobah went and took Kenath and its towns, and called it Nobah after his own name.

Comfort in Times of Trouble

77 My voice goes up to God, and I will cry out. My voice goes up to God and He will hear me. ² I looked to the Lord when I was in trouble. I put out my hand at night, and it did not get tired. My soul would not be comforted. ³ When I remember God, then I am troubled. When I am in deep thought, then my spirit becomes weak. ⁴ You keep my eyes from closing. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have thought about the days of old, the years of long ago. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. I think with my heart. And my spirit asks questions.

⁷ Will the Lord turn away forever? Will He never show favor again? ⁸ Has His loving-kindness stopped forever? Has His promise come to an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be loving and kind? Has He in anger taken away His loving-pity? ¹⁰ Then I said, “It is my sorrow that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹ I will remember the things the Lord has done. Yes, I will remember the powerful works of long ago. ¹² I will think of all Your work, and keep in mind all the great things You have done. ¹³ O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God Who does great works. You have shown Your power among the people. ¹⁵ You have set free Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, with Your strong arm.

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God. The waters saw You and shook. The sea shook also. ¹⁷ The clouds poured down water. The sky sounded with thunder. Your arrows of lightning went this way and that. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the turning wind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea. Your paths went through the powerful waters. And it cannot be known where You stepped. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The Earth Will Be Punished

24 See, the Lord will lay the earth waste. He will destroy it, turn its ground up-side-down, and send its people everywhere. ² What happens to the people will happen to the religious leader. What happens to the man servant will happen to his owner. The woman servant will be like her owner. The buyer will be like the seller. The giver will be like the receiver. The one who lets another use his money will be like the one who uses it. ³ All the earth will be laid waste and destroyed, for the Lord has said this.

⁴ The earth cries in sorrow and wastes away. The world becomes weak with sorrow and wastes away, together with the honored people of the earth. ⁵ The earth has been made unclean by its people. They have sinned and not obeyed the laws, and have broken the agreement that was to be forever. ⁶ So the earth is cursed and those who live in it suffer for their guilt. So the people of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

⁷ The new wine dries up and the vine wastes away. All the glad in heart are in sorrow. ⁸ The happiness of the music-makers stops. The noise of those filled with joy stops. The happiness of the harp stops. ⁹ They do not drink wine with singing. Strong drink tastes bad to those who drink it. ¹⁰ The city of trouble is broken down. Every house is shut up so no one may go in. ¹¹ There is a crying out in the streets about the wine. All joy turns to darkness. The happiness of the earth is gone. ¹² The city is laid waste. The gate is broken to pieces. ¹³ For this is how it will be on the earth among the nations. It will be like the shaking of an olive tree, and like what is left after the grapes have been gathered. ¹⁴ They raise their voices. They call out for joy. They cry out from the west about the wonderful power of the Lord. ¹⁵ So honor the Lord in the east. Honor the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. ¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we hear songs: “Praise the One Who is right and good.” But I say, “I waste away! I waste away! It is bad for me! The false ones are not faithful. Yes, their way is very false.” ¹⁷ Fear and the deep hole and the trap are before you, O people of the earth. ¹⁸ He who runs from the news of trouble will fall into a deep hole. And he who comes out of the hole will be caught in a trap. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the earth shakes. ¹⁹ The earth is broken in pieces. The earth is torn apart. The earth is very shaken. ²⁰ The earth turns from one side to the other side like a drunk man. It shakes like a tent because its sin is heavy upon it. It will fall, never to rise again. ²¹ In that day the Lord will punish the powers of heaven above, and the kings of the earth below. ²² They will be gathered together like those in a prison. They will be kept in a deep, dark prison, and after many days they will be punished. ²³ Then the moon will be dark and the sun will not shine, for the Lord of All will rule on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. And in front of His leaders, He will let His shining-greatness be seen.

Christ Is Our Helper

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, there is One Who will go between him and the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One Who is right with God. ² He paid for our sins with His own blood. He did not pay for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

³ We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His teaching. ⁴ Anyone who says, “I know Him,” but does not obey His teaching is a liar. There is no truth in him. ⁵ But whoever obeys His Word has the love of God made perfect in him. This is the way to know if you belong to Christ. ⁶ The one who says he belongs to Christ should live the same kind of life Christ lived.

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing a new Law for you to obey. It is an old Law you have had from the beginning. The old Law is the Word that you have heard. ⁸ And yet it is a new Law that I am writing to you. It is truth. It was seen in Christ and it is seen in you also. The darkness is passing away and the true Light shines instead. ⁹ Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ But whoever loves his brother is in the light. And there will be no reason to sin because of him. ¹¹ Whoever hates his brother is not in the light but lives in darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

¹² I am writing to you, my children, for your sins have been forgiven because of Christ’s name. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him Who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have power over the devil. I have written to you, young boys and girls, because you have learned to know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him Who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong. You have kept God’s Word in your hearts. You have power over the devil.

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything that is in the world does not come from the Father. The desires of our flesh and the things our eyes see and want and the pride of this life come from the world. ¹⁷ The world and all its desires will pass away. But the man who obeys God and does what He wants done will live forever.

¹⁸ My children, we are near the end of the world. You have heard that the false-christ is coming. Many false-christs have already come. This is how we know the end of the world is near. ¹⁹ These left us. But they never belonged to us. If they had been a part of us, they would have stayed with us. Because they left, it is known they did not belong to us. ²⁰ The Holy Spirit has been given to you and you all know the truth. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth. I have written because you do know the truth and you know that no lie comes from the truth.

²² Who is a liar? He is a person who says that Jesus is not the Christ. The false-christ will have nothing to do with the Father and the Son and he will turn away from Them. ²³ A person who will have nothing to do with the Son and turns against Him does not have the Father. The one who says he knows the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ Keep in your heart what you have heard from the beginning. Then you will belong to the Son and to the Father if what you have heard from the beginning is in you. ²⁵ And He has promised us life that lasts forever! ²⁶ I have written to you about those who are trying to lead you in the wrong way. ²⁷ Christ gave you the Holy Spirit and He lives in you. You do not need anyone to teach you. The Holy Spirit is able to teach you all things. What He teaches you is truth and not a lie. Live by the help of Christ as the Holy Spirit has taught you. ²⁸ And now, my children, live by the help of Him. Then when He comes again, we will be glad to see Him and not be ashamed. ²⁹ You know that Christ is right with God. Then you should know that everyone who is right with God is a child of His.