M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 21
Victory over Arad. 1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad,[a] who ruled over the Negeb,(A) heard that the Israelites were coming along the way of Atharim, he engaged Israel in battle and took some of them captive. 2 Israel then made this vow to the Lord: “If you deliver this people into my hand, I will put their cities under the ban.”(B) 3 The Lord paid attention to Israel and delivered up the Canaanites,(C) and they put them and their cities under the ban. Hence that place was named Hormah.[b]
The Bronze Serpent. 4 From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people’s patience was worn out by the journey; 5 so the people complained(D) against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”[c]
6 So the Lord sent among the people seraph[d] serpents, which bit(E) the people so that many of the Israelites died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, 8 and the Lord said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover.[e] 9 Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent[f] and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.(F)
Journey Around Moab. 10 The Israelites moved on and encamped in Oboth.(G) 11 Then they moved on from Oboth and encamped in Iye-abarim[g] in the wilderness facing Moab on the east. 12 Moving on from there, they encamped in the Wadi Zered. 13 Moving on from there, they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites; for the Arnon forms Moab’s boundary, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Hence it is said in the “Book of the Wars of the Lord”:[h]
“Waheb in Suphah and the wadies,
15 Arnon and the wadi gorges
That reach back toward the site of Ar[i]
and lean against the border of Moab.”
16 From there they went to Beer,[j] which is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, Gather the people together so that I may give them water. 17 Then Israel sang this song:
Spring up, O well!—so sing to it—
18 The well that the princes sank,
that the nobles of the people dug,
With their scepters and their staffs—
from the wilderness, a gift.
19 From Beer to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 from Bamoth to the valley in the country of Moab at the headland of Pisgah that overlooks Jeshimon.[k]
Victory over Sihon. 21 Now Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with the message, 22 “Let us pass through your land. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, nor will we drink any well water, but we will go straight along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23 Sihon,(H) however, would not permit Israel to pass through his territory, but mustered all his forces and advanced against Israel into the wilderness. When he reached Jahaz, he engaged Israel in battle. 24 But Israel put him to the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and as far as Jazer of the Ammonites, for Jazer is the boundary of the Ammonites. 25 (I)Israel seized all the towns here, and Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land from him as far as the Arnon. 27 That is why the poets say:
“Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt,
let Sihon’s city be firmly constructed.
28 For fire went forth from Heshbon
and a blaze from the city of Sihon;
It consumed Ar of Moab
and swallowed up the high places of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab!
You are no more, people of Chemosh![l]
He let his sons become fugitives
and his daughters be taken captive by the Amorite king Sihon.
30 From Heshbon to Dibon their dominion is no more;
Ar is laid waste; fires blaze as far as Medeba.”
31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent spies to Jazer; and the Israelites captured it with its dependencies and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
Victory over Og. 33 (J)Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan. But Og, king of Bashan, advanced against them with all his forces to give battle at Edrei. 34 The Lord, however, said to Moses: Do not fear him; for into your hand I deliver him with all his forces and his land. You will do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.(K) 35 So they struck him down with his sons and all his forces, until not a survivor was left to him, and they took possession of his land.
Psalm 60[a]
Lament After Defeat in Battle
1 For the leader; according to “The Lily of.…” A miktam of David (for teaching), 2 when he fought against Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah; and Joab, coming back, killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(A)
I
3 O God, you rejected us, broke our defenses;
you were angry but now revive us.
4 You rocked the earth, split it open;(B)
repair the cracks for it totters.
5 You made your people go through hardship,
made us stagger from the wine you gave us.(C)
6 Raise up a banner for those who revere you,
a refuge for them out of bow shot.
Selah
7 [b]Help with your right hand and answer us
that your loved ones may escape.
II
8 [c]In the sanctuary God promised:
“I will exult, will apportion Shechem;
the valley of Succoth I will measure out.
9 Gilead is mine, mine is Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet for my head,
Judah, my own scepter.[d]
10 [e]Moab is my washbowl;
upon Edom I cast my sandal.(D)
I will triumph over Philistia.”
III
11 Who will bring me to the fortified city?[f]
Who will lead me into Edom?
12 Was it not you who rejected us, God?
Do you no longer march with our armies?(E)
13 Give us aid against the foe;
worthless is human help.
14 We will triumph with the help of God,
who will trample down our foes.
Psalm 61[g]
Prayer of the King in Time of Danger
1 For the leader; with stringed instruments. Of David.
I
2 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer!
3 From the ends of the earth[h] I call;
my heart grows faint.
Raise me up, set me on a rock,
4 for you are my refuge,
a tower of strength against the foe.(F)
5 Let me dwell in your tent forever,
take refuge in the shelter of your wings.(G)
Selah
II
6 For you, O God, have heard my vows,
you have granted me the heritage of those who revere your name.
7 Add days to the life of the king;
may his years be as from generation to generation;(H)
8 (I)May he reign before God forever;
send your love and fidelity[i] to preserve him—(J)
9 I will duly sing to your name forever,
fulfill my vows day after day.
Judgment on Assyria
5 [a]Ah! Assyria, the rod of my wrath,
the staff I wield in anger.(A)
6 Against an impious nation[b] I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and to trample them like the mud of the street.
7 But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of not a few nations.
8 For he says, “Are not my commanders all kings?”
9 [c]“Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
or Samaria like Damascus?
10 Just as my hand reached out to idolatrous kingdoms
that had more images than Jerusalem and Samaria—
11 Just as I treated Samaria and her idols,
shall I not do to Jerusalem and her graven images?”
12 But when the Lord has brought to an end all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
I will punish the utterance
of the king of Assyria’s proud heart,
and the boastfulness of his haughty eyes.
13 For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a mighty one, I have brought down the enthroned.
14 My hand has seized, like a nest,
the wealth of nations.
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
15 Will the ax boast against the one who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above the one who wields it?
As if a rod could sway the one who lifts it,
or a staff could lift the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send leanness among his fat ones,[d]
And under his glory there will be a kindling
like the kindling of fire.(B)
17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,
the Holy One, a flame,
That burns and consumes its briers
and its thorns in a single day.(C)
18 And the glory of its forests and orchards
will be consumed, soul and body,
and it will be like a sick man who wastes away.
19 And the remnant of the trees in his forest
will be so few,
that any child can record them.
20 On that day
The remnant of Israel,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no more lean upon the one who struck them;
But they will lean upon the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 A remnant will return,[e] the remnant of Jacob,
to the mighty God.
22 Though your people, O Israel,
were like the sand of the sea,(D)
Only a remnant of them will return;
their destruction is decreed,
as overflowing justice demands.(E)
23 For the Lord, the God of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction decreed in the midst of the whole land.(F)
24 [f]Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: My people, who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian, though he strikes you with a rod, and raises his staff against you as did the Egyptians. 25 For just a brief moment more, and my wrath shall be over, and my anger shall be set for their destruction. 26 Then the Lord of hosts will raise against them a scourge such as struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;(G) and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.(H) 27 On that day,
His burden shall be taken from your shoulder,
and his yoke shattered from your neck.(I)
The March of an Enemy Army[g]
He has come up from Rimmon,
28 he has reached Aiath, passed through Migron,
at Michmash he has stored his supplies.
29 He has crossed the ravine,
at Geba he has camped for the night.
Ramah trembles,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry and shriek, Bath-Gallim!
Hearken, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight,
the inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32 Even today he will halt at Nob,
he will shake his fist at the mount of daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem!
33 [h]Now the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
is about to lop off the boughs with terrible violence;
The tall of stature shall be felled,
and the lofty ones shall be brought low;
34 He shall hack down the forest thickets with an ax,
and Lebanon in its splendor shall fall.
Chapter 4
Causes of Division.[a] 1 Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions[b] that make war within your members?(A) 2 You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. 3 You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 Adulterers![c] Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.(B) 5 Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, “The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy”?[d] 6 But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says:(C)
“God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”[e]
7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.(D) 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.(E) 9 Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.(F)
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law.[f] If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor?(G)
Warning Against Presumption.[g] 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit”— 14 you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.[h] You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.(H) 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills it,[i] we shall live to do this or that.” 16 But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 (I)So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.[j]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.