M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Married Women and What They Would Get from Their Families

36 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the family group of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near. They spoke in front of Moses and the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. ² They said, “The Lord told my lord to give the land to the people of Israel by drawing names. And my lord was told by the Lord to give the land of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ But if they marry one of the sons of the other family groups of Israel, then their land would be taken away from what was given to our fathers and would be added to the land of the family group they marry into. So it would be taken from the land that had been given to us. ⁴ When the Year of Jubilee of the people of Israel comes, their land will be added to the land of the family group into which they marry. So their land will be taken from the land of the family group of our fathers.”

⁵ Then Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord said. He said, “The family group of the sons of Joseph are right in what they say. ⁶ This is what the Lord has said about the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best. Only they must marry within the family group of their father.’ ⁷ This way no land of the people of Israel will go from one family group to another. The people of Israel will each hold to the land of the family group of his fathers. ⁸ Every daughter who comes to own the land of any family group of Israel, must be the wife of one of her father’s family group. So every one of the people of Israel may own the land of his fathers. ⁹ No land will go from one family group to another. For the families of Israel will each hold to his own land.” ¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did just as the Lord had told Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married sons of their father’s brothers. ¹² They married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. And their land stayed with their father’s family group.

¹³ These are the Laws which the Lord told the people of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

A Prayer for the Nation

80 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead Joseph like a flock! You Who sit on Your throne above the angels, let Your light shine! ² Stir up Your power in front of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manassah, and come to save us! ³ O God, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

⁴ O Lord God of all, how long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people? ⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears. And You have made them drink a big amount of tears. ⁶ You have made us an object of arguing to our neighbors. Those who hate us laugh among themselves. ⁷ O God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and You planted it. ⁹ You cleared the land for it. And its roots went deep and filled the land. ¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shadow. And the tall trees were covered with its branches. ¹¹ It sent out its branches to the sea, and its new branches to the River. ¹² Why have You broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? ¹³ The wild pig from among the trees eats it away. And whatever moves in the field eats from it.

¹⁴ O God of all, we beg You to return. Look down from heaven and see. Take care of this vine. ¹⁵ Take care of the root Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You have raised up for Yourself. ¹⁶ They have burned it with fire. It is cut down. May they be lost when they hear Your strong words. ¹⁷ Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, the son of man you have made strong for Yourself. ¹⁸ Then we will not turn away from You. Give us new life again, and we will call on Your name. ¹⁹ O Lord God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

Time of Trouble for Ephraim and Jerusalem

28 It is a time of trouble to the crown of pride and to the drunk men of Ephraim, whose shining beauty is a dying flower. It is at the head of the rich valley of those who have taken too much wine! ² See, the Lord has one who is strong and powerful, like a storm of hail, a destroying storm. As with a flood of powerful waters flowing over, He will bring them down to the earth with His hand. ³ The crown of pride, the drunk men of Ephraim, will be crushed under foot. ⁴ The dying flower of its shining beauty which is at the head of the rich valley will be like the first fig grown before the summer. When one sees it, he takes it in his hand and eats it. ⁵ In that day the Lord of All will be a crown of shining-greatness, a beautiful crown to those who are left of His people. ⁶ He will be a spirit of what is fair to him who judges the people. He will be a strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. ⁷ These also walk from one side to the other side because of wine and strong drink. The religious leaders and the men who tell what will happen in the future make mistakes because of strong drink. They are troubled by wine. They walk from side to side because of strong drink. They make mistakes as they have special dreams. And they make mistakes when judging between right and wrong. ⁸ All the tables are covered with what they have spit up. There is no place that is clean.

⁹ “Who is it He is trying to teach? To whom will He tell what He has to say? Children finished with their nursing and just taken from the breast? ¹⁰ For He says, ‘Law on law, law on law, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there.’” ¹¹ The Lord will speak to these people through men from other lands and in strange languages. ¹² He Who said to them, “This is rest, give rest to the tired and weak.” And, “This is the place to rest,” but they would not listen. ¹³ So the Word of the Lord to them will be, “Law on law, law on law, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there,” that they may go and fall back, be broken, trapped, and taken away by those who hate them.

A Stone of Great Worth in Jerusalem

¹⁴ So hear the Word of the Lord, you who laugh at the truth, who rule the people in Jerusalem! ¹⁵ You have said, “We have made an agreement with death. With the place of the dead we have made an agreement. The destroying flood will not touch us when it passes by. We have made lies our safe place. We have hidden ourselves with what is false.” ¹⁶ So the Lord God says, “See, I lay in Jerusalem a Stone of great worth to build upon, a tested Stone. Anyone who puts his trust in Him will not be afraid of what will happen. ¹⁷ And I will use what is fair to decide about the base. And I will use what is right and good to make it straight. Then hail will take away all the lies you depend on, and the waters will flow over the place where you hide. ¹⁸ Your agreement with death will come to an end. Your agreement with the place of the dead will be stopped. When a flood of trouble passes through, you will be beaten down by it. ¹⁹ As often as it passes through, it will take you. And it will pass through morning after morning, anytime during the day or night. To understand what it means will bring much fear.” ²⁰ The bed is too short to lie on in comfort. And the covering is too small to put around yourself. ²¹ For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon, to do what He needs to do, His strange act, and to do His work, His different kind of work. ²² So now do not laugh, or your chains will be made stronger. I have heard that the Lord God of All plans to destroy the whole earth.

The Wisdom of God

²³ Listen and hear my voice. Listen and hear my words. ²⁴ Does the farmer plow all the time to plant seed? Does he keep on turning and digging up the ground? ²⁵ When he gets the ground ready to plant, does he not sow dill seeds and cummin seeds and wheat in rows? Does he not put barley in its place, and rye in the right place? ²⁶ For his God tells him what to do and teaches him the right way. ²⁷ Dill is not crushed with a crushing object. And the wagon wheel is not rolled over cummin. But dill is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a heavy stick. ²⁸ Grain for bread is crushed. He does not keep on crushing it forever. When he drives his wagon-wheel over it with his horses, it does not crush it. ²⁹ This also comes from the Lord of All, Who has given wonderful wise words and great wisdom.

¹ The church leader writes to the chosen lady and to her children. I love you because of the truth. I am not the only one who loves you. All who know the truth love you. ² It is because the truth is in us and will be with us forever. ³ Loving-favor and loving-kindness and peace are ours as we live in truth and love. These come from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Son of the Father.

⁴ I am happy to find some of your children living in the truth as the Father has said we should. ⁵ And now I ask you, lady, that we have love one for the other. I am not writing to you about a new Law but an old one we have had from the beginning. ⁶ Love means that we should live by obeying His Word. From the beginning He has said in His Word that our hearts should be full of love.

⁷ There are many false teachers in the world. They do not say that Jesus Christ came in a human body. Such a person does not tell the truth. He is the false-christ. ⁸ Watch yourselves! You do not want to lose what we have worked for. You want to get what has been promised to you.

⁹ Anyone who goes too far and does not live by the teachings of Christ does not have God. If you live by what Christ taught, you have both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If a person comes to you with some other kind of teaching, do not take him into your home. Do not even greet him. ¹¹ The person who does has a share in his sins.

¹² I have many things to write to you. I do not want to write them in this letter. But I hope to come to you soon. Then we can talk about these things together that your joy may be full. ¹³ The children of your chosen sister greet you.