M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses Counts the Israelites
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent. This was in the desert of Sinai. It was on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said to Moses: 2 “Count all the Israelites. List the name of each man with his family and his family group. 3 You and Aaron must count the men of Israel who are 20 years old or older. (These are all the men who are able to serve in the army of Israel.) List them by their divisions. 4 One man from each tribe will help you. This man will be the leader of his tribe. 5 These are the names of the men who will stand with you and help you:
from the tribe of Reuben—Elizur son of Shedeur;
6 from the tribe of Simeon—Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
7 from the tribe of Judah—Nahshon son of Amminadab;
8 from the tribe of Issachar—Nethanel son of Zuar;
9 from the tribe of Zebulun—Eliab son of Helon;
10 from the descendants of Joseph:
from the tribe of Ephraim—Elishama son of Ammihud;
from the tribe of Manasseh—Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
11 from the tribe of Benjamin—Abidan son of Gideoni;
12 from the tribe of Dan—Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
13 from the tribe of Asher—Pagiel son of Ocran;
14 from the tribe of Gad—Eliasaph son of Deuel[a];
15 from the tribe of Naphtali—Ahira son of Enan.”
16 All these men were the leaders of their families. The people also chose them to be leaders of their tribes. 17 Moses and Aaron took the men who had been chosen to be leaders 18 and called all the Israelites together on the first day of the second month. Then the people were listed by their families and their family groups. All the men who were 20 years old or older were listed. 19 Moses did exactly what the Lord commanded—he counted the people while they were in the desert of Sinai.
20 The tribe of Reuben was counted. (Reuben was the firstborn son of Israel.) The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 21 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.
22 The tribe of Simeon was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 23 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.
24 The tribe of Gad was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 25 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Gad was 45,650.
26 The tribe of Judah was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 27 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Judah was 74,600.
28 The tribe of Issachar was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 29 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400.
30 The tribe of Zebulun was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 31 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.
32 The tribe of Ephraim was counted. (Ephraim was Joseph’s son.) The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 33 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.
34 The tribe of Manasseh was counted. (Manasseh was also Joseph’s son.) The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 35 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.
36 The tribe of Benjamin was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 37 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.
38 The tribe of Dan was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 39 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Dan was 62,700.
40 The tribe of Asher was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. 41 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Asher was 41,500.
42 The tribe of Naphtali was counted. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. 43 The total number of men counted from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.
44 Moses, Aaron, and the twelve leaders of Israel counted these men. (There was one leader from each tribe.) 45 They counted every man who was 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army. Each man was listed with his family. 46 The total number of men counted was 603,550 men.
47 The families from the tribe of Levi were not counted with the other Israelites. 48 The Lord had told Moses: 49 “Don’t count the men from the tribe of Levi or include them with the other Israelites. 50 Tell the Levites that they are responsible for the Tent of the Agreement. They must take care of that tent and everything that is with it. They must carry the Holy Tent and everything in it. They must make their camp around it and take care of it. 51 Whenever the Holy Tent is moved, the Levites must do it. Whenever the Holy Tent is set up, the Levites must do it. They are the men who will take care of the Holy Tent. Anyone else who tries to take care of the tent must be killed. 52 The Israelites will make their camps in separate divisions. Everyone must camp near their family flag. 53 The Levites will set up their tents so that they surround the Tent of the Agreement. They will serve as guards and keep the people away from the Tent. This will protect the Israelites from the Lord’s anger.”
54 The Lord had given these commandments to Moses. So the Israelites did everything he commanded.
A song of David.
35 Lord, oppose those who oppose me.
Fight those who fight me.
2 Pick up your shields, large and small.
Get up and help me!
3 Take a spear and javelin
and fight those who are chasing me.
Tell me, “I will rescue you.”
4 Some people are trying to kill me.
Disappoint them and make them ashamed.
Make them turn and run away.
They are planning to hurt me.
Defeat and embarrass them.
5 Make them like chaff blown by the wind.[a]
Let them be chased by the Lord’s angel.
6 Make their road dark and slippery.
Let the Lord’s angel chase them.
7 I did nothing wrong, but they tried to trap me.
For no reason at all, they dug a pit to catch me.
8 So let them fall into their own traps.
Let them stumble into their own nets.
Let some unknown danger catch them.
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will be happy when he saves me.
10 With my whole self I will say,
“Lord, there is no one like you.
You protect the poor from those who are stronger.
You save the poor and helpless from those who try to rob them.”
11 There are witnesses[b] trying to harm me.
They ask me questions that I know nothing about.
12 They pay me back evil for the good I have done.
They make me so very sad.
13 When they were sick, I was sad and wore sackcloth.
I went without eating to show my sorrow.
(May my prayers for them not be answered!)
14 I mourned for them as I would for a friend or a brother.
I bowed low with sadness, crying as I would for my own mother.
15 But when I had troubles, they laughed at me.
They were not really friends.
I was surrounded and attacked
by people I didn’t even know.
16 They made fun of me, using the worst language.
They ground their teeth to show their anger.
17 My Lord, how long will you watch this happen?
Save my life from these people
who are attacking me like lions and trying to destroy me.
18 I will praise you in the great assembly.
I will praise you there among the crowds.
19 Don’t let my lying enemies keep on laughing at me.
They have no reason to hate me.
Surely they will be punished for their secret plans.[c]
20 They have no friendly words for others,
but plan ways to hurt those who want to live in peace.
21 They are telling lies about me.
They say, “Aha! We know what you did!”
22 Lord, surely you can see what is happening.
So don’t keep quiet.
Lord, don’t leave me.
23 Wake up! Get up!
My God and my Lord, fight for me, and bring me justice.
24 Lord my God, judge me with your fairness.
Don’t let those people laugh at me.
25 Don’t let them think, “Aha! We got what we wanted!”
Don’t let them say, “We destroyed him!”
26 Let my enemies be ashamed and embarrassed—
all those who were happy about my troubles.
Proud of themselves, they treated me as worthless.
So let them be covered with shame and disgrace.
27 To those who want the best for me,
I wish them joy and happiness.
May they always say, “Praise the Lord,
who wants what is best for his servant.”
28 So, Lord, I will tell people how good you are.
I will praise you all day long.
Boldly Face the Future
11 Do good wherever you go.[a] After a while, the good you do will come back to you.
2 Invest what you have in several different things.[b] You don’t know what bad things might happen on earth.
3 There are some things you can be sure of. If clouds are full of rain, they will pour water on the earth. If a tree falls—to the south or to the north—then it will stay where it falls.
4 But there are some things that you cannot be sure of. You must take a chance. If you wait for perfect weather, you will never plant your seeds. If you are afraid that every cloud will bring rain, you will never harvest your crops.
5 You don’t know where the wind blows. And you don’t know how a baby grows in its mother’s womb. In the same way, you don’t know what God will do—and he makes everything happen.
6 So begin planting early in the morning, and don’t stop working until evening. You don’t know what might make you rich. Maybe everything you do will be successful.
7 It is good to be alive. It is nice to see the light from the sun. 8 You should enjoy every day of your life, no matter how long you live. But remember that you will die, and you will be dead much longer than you were alive. And after you are dead, you cannot do anything.
Serve God While You Are Young
9 So young people, enjoy yourselves while you are young. Be happy. Do whatever your heart leads you to do. Do whatever you want, but remember that God will judge you for everything you do. 10 Don’t let your anger control you, and don’t let your body lead you to sin.[c] People do foolish things in the dawn of life while they are young.
The Right Way to Live
3 Remind your people that they should always be under the authority of rulers and government leaders. They should obey these leaders and be ready to do good. 2 Tell them not to speak evil of anyone but to live in peace with others. They should be gentle and polite to everyone.
3 In the past we were foolish too. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to the many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We lived doing evil and being jealous. People hated us and we hated each other. 4 But then the kindness and love of God our Savior was made known. 5 He saved us because of his mercy, not because of any good things we did. He saved us through the washing that made us new people. He saved us by making us new through the Holy Spirit. 6 God poured out to us that Holy Spirit fully through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 We were made right with God by his grace. God saved us so that we could be his children and look forward to receiving life that never ends. 8 This is a true statement.
And I want you to be sure that the people understand these things. Then those who believe in God will be careful to use their lives for doing good. These things are good and will help everyone.
9 Stay away from those who have foolish arguments, who talk about useless family histories, or who make trouble and fight about what the Law of Moses teaches. These things are useless and will not help anyone. 10 Give a warning to all those who cause arguments. If they continue to cause trouble after a second warning, then don’t associate with them. 11 You know that people like that are evil and sinful. Their sins prove they are wrong.
Final Instructions and Greetings
12 I will send Artemas and Tychicus to you. When I send them, try hard to come to me at Nicopolis. I have decided to stay there this winter. 13 Zenas the lawyer and Apollos will be traveling from there. Do all that you can to help them prepare for their trip. Be sure that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to use their lives for doing good and helping anyone who has a need. Then they will not have empty lives.
15 All the people with me here send you their greetings. Give my greetings to those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International