M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Setting of the Covenant
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to the assembly of[a] Israel east[b] of the Jordan River,[c] in the Arabah desert, opposite Suph between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 It takes eleven days to travel[d] from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea via Mount Seir.[e] 3 On the first day of the eleventh month,[f] in the fortieth year, Moses spoke to the Israelis about everything that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This took place[g] after he defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth at Edrei.
Moses Reviews God’s Instructions
5 East of the Jordan River, in the land of Moab, Moses began to expound this Law: 6 “The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb. He said, ‘You have been at this mountain long enough. 7 Break camp,[h] get going, and proceed to the hill country of the Amorites and all the nearby places in the Arabah desert, the highlands, the foothills, the Negev,[i] the coastal plains, all of the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 Look! I’ve given you the land that lies ahead. Go in and possess the land that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants.’”
Moses Reviews the Selected Officials
9 “I also told you at that time that I won’t be able to sustain you on my own. 10 The Lord your God greatly multiplied your numbers, and today you are like the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times more, and may he bless you, as he promised you. 12 How can I bear the burden of you and your bickering all by myself? 13 Choose for yourselves wise and discerning men, known to your tribes, and appoint them as your leaders. 14 You answered by saying that this plan is a good thing. 15 So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men, and I appointed them over you—commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 16 I charged your judges at that time, ‘When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners. 17 When you hold a hearing, don’t be partial[j] in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.’ 18 I charged you at that time that you must do all of these things.”
Moses Reviews the Sending of the Scouts(A)
19 “Then we set out from Horeb and walked through that vast and dreadful desert, where you observed the road to the Amorite hill country. Just as the Lord our God ordained for us, we finally arrived at Kadesh-barnea. 20 I told you at that time, ‘You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21 Look! The Lord your God has given the land that lies[k] before you. Go and possess it, just as the Lord God of your ancestors commanded you. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.’
22 “Then all of you approached me and said: ‘Let’s send out men in advance of us so they can survey the land and bring back a report to us on how we’ll go up to their cities.’ 23 Because this suggestion[l] seemed good to me, I chose twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 24 Then these men set out,[m] went up to the hill county, reached the Eshcol Valley, and surveyed it. 25 They hand-picked some of the fruit of the land, brought it down to us, and gave a report that said, ‘The land which the Lord is about to give us is good.’”
Israel Rebels
26 “However, your ancestors didn’t go up. Instead, they rebelled against the command[n] of the Lord your God. 27 You murmured in your tents, ‘The Lord hates us. He brought us out of the land of Egypt in order to deliver us to[o] the Amorites so he could destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers discouraged us when they said that the people are bigger and taller than we are. Their cities are tall and fortified to the sky, and we also saw the Anakim[p] there.’
29 “Then I told you, ‘Don’t be terrified or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God is the One who will be going ahead of you. He’ll fight for you just as he did in Egypt before your eyes. 31 In the desert you saw that the Lord carried you like a man carries his son, on every road you traveled until you reached this place.’ 32 But despite this, you didn’t trust in the Lord your God, 33 who walked ahead of you along the way to scout a place for you to pitch camp—by fire at night and cloud by day—to lead you on the way you should go.”
Entrance is Denied
34 “When the Lord heard your complaints, he became angry and declared, 35 ‘I swear that not one man of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors, 36 except Jephunneh’s son Caleb. He will see it and I will give to him and to his descendants the land on which he has walked because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’
37 “The Lord was also furious with me because of you. He said: ‘You will not enter the land.[q] 38 However, Nun’s son Joshua, your assistant, will go there. Encourage him, for he will cause Israel to take possession of it. 39 Your little ones—whom you said would be taken captive—and your children who do not yet[r] know right from wrong will enter the land.[s] I will give it to them and they themselves will possess it. 40 But as for you, prepare to set out for the desert on the way to the Reed[t] Sea.’
41 “You responded to me and said, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight according to what the Lord our God commanded.’ So each man put on his weapon for battle and recklessly started out for the hill country.”
The Amorites Defeat Israel
42 “Then the Lord told me: ‘Tell them not to go up and fight because I will not be in their midst, or else you will be defeated before your enemies.’
43 “I spoke to you but you didn’t listen. Instead you rebelled against the command[u] of the Lord and went up to the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in the hill country came out to engage you in battle. They pursued you like bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45 You returned and cried out in the Lord’s presence, but the Lord didn’t hear your voice or listen to you. 46 You remained in Kadesh for many days. It was a long time, indeed.”
For the Director: On the Gittith. By Asaph.
Celebrating and Remembering God
81 Sing joyfully to God, our strength.
Raise a shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Sing a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding lyre along with the harp.
3 Blow the ram’s horn when there is a New Moon,
when there is a full moon,
on our festival day,
4 because it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance by the God of Jacob,
5 a decree that he prescribed for Joseph
when he went throughout the land of Egypt,
speaking a language I did not recognize.[a]
6 I removed the burden from your[b] shoulder;
your[c] hands were freed of the burdensome basket.[d]
7 In a time of need you called out and I delivered you;
I answered you from the dark thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Listen, My people and I will warn you.
Israel, if only you would obey me!
9 You must neither have a foreign god over you
or worship a strange god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
open your mouth that I may fill it.
11 Yet my people didn’t obey my voice;
Israel didn’t submit to me.
12 So I allowed them[e] to continue in their stubbornness,
living by their own advice.
13 If only my people would obey me,
if only Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies.
I would turn against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord will cringe before him;
their punishment will be permanent.
16 But I will feed Israel[f] with the finest wheat,
satisfying you with honey from the rock.
A Psalm of Asaph
Asking God for Justice
2 “How long will you judge partially
by showing favor on the wicked?[i]
3 “Defend the poor and the fatherless.
Vindicate the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the poor and the needy,
delivering them from the power of the wicked.
5 They neither know nor understand;
they walk about in the dark
while all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “Indeed I said, ‘You are gods,
and all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 However, as all human beings do, you will die,
and like other rulers, you will fall.’
8 Arise, God, to judge the earth,
for all nations belong to you.
Judgment is Coming to Jerusalem
29 “How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel,[a]
the city where David encamped!
Year after year,
let your festivals run their cycle.
2 Then I’ll besiege Aruel,[b]
and there will be sorrow and mourning;
she will become to me like an altar fireplace.[c]
3 Then I’ll encamp against you like David,[d]
and I’ll lay siege to you with towers,
raise siege works against you,
4 and you will be brought down.
You will speak from the ground,
and your speech will mumble from the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground,
and your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 “But the hordes of your enemies[e]
will become like fine dust,
and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you will be visited by the Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise,
with a windstorm, a tempest,
and flames from a devouring fire.
7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel,[f]
all that attack her and her fortification[g] and besiege her,
will become like a dream, with its visions in the night—
8 as when a hungry man dreams—
he eats, but wakes up still hungry;
or when a thirsty man dreams—
he drinks, but wakes up faint,
with his thirst unquenched.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
Blind to God’s Words
9 “Act stupid!
Be astonished!
Act blind,
and be blind!
Be drunk,[h] but not from[i] wine;
stagger around,[j] but not from strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep—
he has closed your eyes, you prophets,
he has covered your heads, you seers!”
11 “And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,[k] ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ 12 Or when they give the book[l] to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,[m] ‘I don’t know how to read.’”
A Rebuke of Hypocritical Worship
13 Then the Lord said:
“Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me,
worship of me[n] has become
merely like[o] rules taught by human beings.
14 Therefore, watch out!
“As for me,[p] I will once again
do amazing things with this people,
wonder upon wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will perish,
and the insights[q] of their discerning men will stay hidden.”
A Rebuke to the Deceptive
15 “How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths
to hide your plans from the Lord,
you whose deeds have been[r] done[s] in the dark,
and who say, ‘Who can see us?
Who has recognized[t] us?’
16 He has turned the tables on you[u]—
as if the potter were thought to be like heat.[v]
Can what is made say of the one who made it,
‘He did not make me?’
Or can what is formed say of the ones[w] who formed it,
‘He has no skill?’
17 “In a very little while,
will not Lebanon be turned into a garden of fruit,[x]
and the garden of fruit[y] seem like a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear
the words of a scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will again experience joy in the Lord,
and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will vanish,
and mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21 those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit,
who set a trap for someone
who is making his defense in court,[z]
and push aside the innocent
with specious arguments.
22 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:
‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees in his midst his children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Moreover, those who go astray in spirit will gain[aa] understanding,
and those who complain will accept instruction.’”
Greetings from John
1 From:[a] The Elder
To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I genuinely love.
Encouragement for Gaius
2 Dear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and that you are healthy, just as your soul is healthy. 3 I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified about your truthfulness and how you live according to the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.
5 Dear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 After all, they went on their trip for the sake of the Name,[b] accepting no support from gentiles. 8 Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can become genuine helpers with them.
Criticism of Diotrephes
9 I wrote a letter[c] to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, will not recognize our authority.[d] 10 For this reason, when I come I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with that, he refuses to receive the brothers. He even tries to stop those who want to accept them[e] and throws them out of the church.
Praise for Demetrius
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The person who does what is good is from God. The person who does what is evil has never seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good report from everyone, including the truth itself. We, too, can testify to this report, and you know that our testimony is true.
Final Greeting
13 Although I have a great deal to write to you,[f] I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 Instead, I hope to see you[g] soon and speak face to face.
15 May peace be with you![h] Your friends greet you.[i] Greet[j] each of our friends by name.
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