M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Israel Wanders in the Desert
2 Then we turned around, and we traveled on the desert road toward the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me to do. We traveled through the mountains of Edom for many days.
2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 “You have traveled through these mountains long enough. Turn north 4 and give the people this command: ‘You will soon go through the land that belongs to your relatives, the descendants of Esau who live in Edom. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. 5 Do not go to war against them. I will not give you any of their land—not even a foot of it, because I have given the mountains of Edom to Esau as his own. 6 You must pay them in silver for any food you eat or water you drink.’”
7 The Lord your God has blessed everything you have done; he has protected you while you traveled through this great desert. The Lord your God has been with you for the past forty years, and you have had everything you needed.
8 So we passed by our relatives, the descendants of Esau who lived in Edom. We turned off the Jordan Valley road that comes from the towns of Elath and Ezion Geber and traveled along the desert road to Moab.
The Land of Ar
9 Then the Lord said to me, “Don’t bother the people of Moab. Don’t go to war against them, because I will not give you any of their land as your own; I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their own.” 10 (The Emites, who lived in Ar before, were strong people, and there were many of them. They were very tall, like the Anakites. 11 The Emites were thought to be Rephaites, like the Anakites, but the Moabite people called them Emites. 12 The Horites also lived in Edom before, but the descendants of Esau forced them out and destroyed them, taking their place as Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their own.)
13 And the Lord said to me, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley. 14 It had been thirty-eight years from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, all the fighting men from that time had died, as the Lord had promised would happen. 15 The Lord continued to work against them to remove them from the camp until they were all dead.
16 When the last of those fighting men had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 “Today you will pass by Ar, on the border of Moab. 19 When you come near the people of Ammon, don’t bother them or go to war against them, because I will not give you any of their land as your own. I have given it to the descendants of Lot for their own.”
20 (That land was also thought to be a land of the Rephaites, because those people used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 21 They were strong people, and there were many of them; they were very tall, like the Anakites. The Lord destroyed the Zamzummites, and the Ammonites forced them out of the land and took their place. 22 The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Edom, when he destroyed the Horites. The Edomites forced them out of the land and took their place, and they live there to this day. 23 The Cretan people came from Crete and destroyed the Avvites, who lived in towns all the way to Gaza; the Cretans destroyed them and took their place.)
Fighting the Amorites
24 The Lord said, “Get up and cross the Arnon Ravine. See, I am giving you the power to defeat Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I am giving you his land. So fight against him and begin taking his land. 25 Today I will begin to make all the people in the world afraid of you. When they hear reports about you, they will shake with fear, and they will be terrified of you.”
26 I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon. They offered him peace, saying, 27 “If you let us pass through your country, we will stay on the road and not turn right or left. 28 We will pay you in silver for any food we eat or water we drink. We only want to walk through your country. 29 The descendants of Esau in Edom let us go through their land, and so did the Moabites in Ar. We want to cross the Jordan River into the land the Lord our God has given us.” 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass, because the Lord your God had made him stubborn. The Lord wanted you to defeat Sihon, and now this has happened.
31 The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to give Sihon and his country to you. Begin taking the land as your own.”
32 Then Sihon and all his army came out and fought us at Jahaz, 33 but the Lord our God gave Sihon to us. We defeated him, his sons, and all his army. 34 We captured all his cities at that time and completely destroyed them, as well as the men, women, and children. We left no one alive. 35 But we kept the cattle and valuable things from the cities for ourselves. 36 We defeated Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Ravine, and we defeated the town in the ravine, and even as far as Gilead. No town was too strong for us; the Lord our God gave us all of them. 37 But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, on the shores of the Jabbok River, or the towns in the mountains, as the Lord our God had commanded.
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
83 God, do not keep quiet;
God, do not be silent or still.
2 Your enemies are making noises;
those who hate you are getting ready to attack.
3 They are making secret plans against your people;
they plot against those you love.
4 They say, “Come, let’s destroy them as a nation.
Then no one will ever remember the name ‘Israel.’”
5 They are united in their plan.
These have made an agreement against you:
6 the families of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 the people of Byblos, Ammon, Amalek,
Philistia, and Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to help Ammon and Moab, the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 God, do to them what you did to Midian,
what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They died at Endor,
and their bodies rotted on the ground.
11 Do to their important leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb.
Do to their princes what you did to Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s take for ourselves
the pasturelands that belong to God.”
13 My God, make them like tumbleweed,
like chaff blown away by the wind.
14 Be like a fire that burns a forest
or like flames that blaze through the hills.
15 Chase them with your storm,
and frighten them with your wind.
16 Cover them with shame.
Then people will look for you, Lord.
17 Make them afraid and ashamed forever.
Disgrace them and destroy them.
18 Then they will know that you are the Lord,
that only you are God Most High over all the earth.
Wishing to Be in the Temple
For the director of music. On the gittith. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 Lord All-Powerful,
how lovely is your Temple!
2 I want more than anything
to be in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple.
My whole being wants
to be with the living God.
3 The sparrows have found a home,
and the swallows have nests.
They raise their young near your altars,
Lord All-Powerful, my King and my God.
4 Happy are the people who live at your Temple;
they are always praising you. Selah
5 Happy are those whose strength comes from you,
who want to travel to Jerusalem.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it like a spring.
The autumn rains fill it with pools of water.
7 The people get stronger as they go,
and everyone meets with God in Jerusalem.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, hear my prayer;
God of Jacob, listen to me. Selah
9 God, look at our shield;
be kind to your appointed king.
10 One day in the courtyards of your Temple is better
than a thousand days anywhere else.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the Temple of my God
than live in the homes of the wicked.
11 The Lord God is like a sun and shield;
the Lord gives us kindness and honor.
He does not hold back anything good
from those whose lives are innocent.
12 Lord All-Powerful,
happy are the people who trust you!
Warnings to the Stubborn Nation
30 The Lord said,
“How terrible it will be for these stubborn children.
They make plans, but they don’t ask me to help them.
They make agreements with other nations, without asking my Spirit.
They are adding more and more sins to themselves.
2 They go down to Egypt for help
without asking me about it first.
They hope they will be saved by the king of Egypt;
they want Egypt to protect them.
3 But hiding in Egypt will bring you only shame;
Egypt’s protection will only disappoint you.
4 Your officers have gone to Zoan,
and your messengers have gone to Hanes,
5 but they will be put to shame,
because Egypt is useless to them.
It will give no help and will be of no use;
it will cause them only shame and embarrassment.”
God’s Message to Judah
6 This is a message about the animals in southern Judah:
Southern Judah is a dangerous place
full of lions and lionesses,
poisonous snakes and darting snakes.
The messengers travel through there with their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasure on the backs of camels.
They carry them to a nation that cannot help them,
7 to Egypt whose help is useless.
So I call that country Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8 Now write this on a sign for the people,
write this on a scroll,
so that for the days to come
this will be a witness forever.
9 These people are like children who lie and refuse to obey;
they refuse to listen to the Lord’s teachings.
10 They tell the seers,
“Don’t see any more visions!”
They say to the prophets,
“Don’t tell us the truth!
Say things that will make us feel good;
see only good things for us.
11 Stop blocking our path.
Get out of our way.
Stop telling us
about God, the Holy One of Israel.”
12 So this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“You people have refused to accept this message
and have depended on cruelty and lies to help you.
13 You are guilty of these things.
So you will be like a high wall with cracks in it
that falls suddenly and breaks into small pieces.
14 You will be like a clay jar that breaks,
smashed into many pieces.
Those pieces will be too small
to take coals from the fire
or to get water from a well.”
15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“If you come back to me and trust me, you will be saved.
If you will be calm and trust me, you will be strong.”
But you don’t want to do that.
16 You say, “No, we need horses to run away on.”
So you will run away on horses.
You say, “We will ride away on fast horses.”
So those who chase you will be fast.
17 One enemy will make threats,
and a thousand of your men will run away.
Five enemies will make threats,
and all of you will run from them.
You will be left alone like a flagpole on a hilltop,
like a banner on a hill.
18 The Lord wants to show his mercy to you.
He wants to rise and comfort you.
The Lord is a fair God,
and everyone who waits for his help will be happy.
The Lord Will Help His People
19 You people who live on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will not cry anymore. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will comfort you. When he hears you, he will help you. 20 The Lord has given you sorrow and hurt like the bread and water you ate every day. He is your teacher; he will not continue to hide from you, but you will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the right way. You should go this way.” 22 You have statues covered with silver and gold, but you will ruin them for further use. You will throw them away like filthy rags and say, “Go away!”
23 At that time the Lord will send rain for the seeds you plant in the ground, and the ground will grow food for you. The harvest will be rich and great, and you will have plenty of food in the fields for your animals. 24 Your oxen and donkeys that work the soil will have all the food they need. You will have to use shovels and pitchforks to spread all their food. 25 Every mountain and hill will have streams filled with water. These things will happen after many people are killed and the towers are pulled down. 26 At that time the light from the moon will be bright like the sun, and the light from the sun will be seven times brighter than now, like the light of seven days. These things will happen when the Lord bandages his broken people and heals the hurts he gave them.
27 Look! The Lord comes from far away.
His anger is like a fire with thick clouds of smoke.
His mouth is filled with anger,
and his tongue is like a burning fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing river,
which rises to the throat.
He will judge the nations as if he is sifting them through the strainer of destruction.
He will place in their mouths a bit that will lead them the wrong way.
29 You will sing happy songs
as on the nights you begin a festival.
You will be happy like people listening to flutes
as they come to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause all people to hear his great voice
and to see his powerful arm come down with anger,
like a great fire that burns everything,
like a great storm with much rain and hail.
31 Assyria will be afraid when it hears the voice of the Lord,
because he will strike Assyria with a rod.
32 When the Lord punishes Assyria with a rod,
he will beat them to the music of tambourines and harps;
he will fight against them with his mighty weapons.
33 Topheth[a] has been made ready for a long time;
it is ready for the king.
It was made deep and wide
with much wood and fire.
And the Lord’s breath will come
like a stream of burning sulfur and set it on fire.
1 From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.
To all who have been called by God. God the Father loves you, and you have been kept safe in Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace, and love be yours richly.
God Will Punish Sinners
3 Dear friends, I wanted very much to write you about the salvation we all share. But I felt the need to write you about something else: I want to encourage you to fight hard for the faith that was given the holy people of God once and for all time. 4 Some people have secretly entered your group. Long ago the prophets wrote about these people who will be judged guilty. They are against God and have changed the grace of our God into a reason for sexual sin. They also refuse to accept Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
5 I want to remind you of some things you already know: Remember that the Lord[a] saved his people by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. But later he destroyed all those who did not believe. 6 And remember the angels who did not keep their place of power but left their proper home. The Lord has kept these angels in darkness, bound with everlasting chains, to be judged on the great day. 7 Also remember the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah[b] and the other towns around them. In the same way they were full of sexual sin and people who desired sexual relations that God does not allow. They suffer the punishment of eternal fire, as an example for all to see.
8 It is the same with these people who have entered your group. They are guided by dreams and make themselves filthy with sin. They reject God’s authority and speak against the angels. 9 Not even the archangel[c] Michael, when he argued with the devil about who would have the body of Moses, dared to judge the devil guilty. Instead, he said, “The Lord punish you.” 10 But these people speak against things they do not understand. And what they do know, by feeling, as dumb animals know things, are the very things that destroy them. 11 It will be terrible for them. They have followed the way of Cain, and for money they have given themselves to doing the wrong that Balaam did. They have fought against God as Korah did, and like Korah, they surely will be destroyed. 12 They are like dirty spots in your special Christian meals you share. They eat with you and have no fear, caring only for themselves. They are clouds without rain, which the wind blows around. They are autumn trees without fruit that are pulled out of the ground. So they are twice dead. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea, tossing up their own shameful actions like foam. They are like stars that wander in the sky. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh descendant from Adam, said about these people: “Look, the Lord is coming with many thousands of his holy angels to 15 judge every person. He is coming to punish all who are against God for all the evil they have done against him. And he will punish the sinners who are against God for all the evil they have said against him.”
16 These people complain and blame others, doing the evil things they want to do. They brag about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.
A Warning and Things to Do
17 Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said before. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be people who laugh about God, following their own evil desires which are against God.” 19 These are the people who divide you, people whose thoughts are only of this world, who do not have the Spirit.
20 But dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ with his mercy to give you life forever.
22 Show mercy to some people who have doubts. 23 Take others out of the fire, and save them. Show mercy mixed with fear to others, hating even their clothes which are dirty from sin.
Praise God
24 God is strong and can help you not to fall. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and can give you great joy. 25 He is the only God, the One who saves us. To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now, and forever. Amen.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.