M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

33 This is the itinerary of the nation of Israel from the time Moses and Aaron led them out of Egypt. ² Moses had written down their movements as the Lord had instructed him. ^3-4 They left the city of Rameses, Egypt, on the first day of April,^[a] the day after the night of the Passover. They left proudly, hurried along by the Egyptians who were burying all their eldest sons, killed by the Lord the night before. The Lord had certainly defeated all the gods of Egypt that night!

^5-6 After leaving Rameses, they stayed in Succoth, Etham (at the edge of the wilderness), and ⁷ Pihahiroth (near Baal-zephon, where they camped at the foot of Mount Migdol). ⁸ From there they went through the middle of the Red Sea and on for three days into the wilderness of Etham, camping at Marah.

⁹ Leaving Marah, they came to Elim, where there are twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; they stayed there for quite a long time.

¹⁰ Leaving Elim, they camped beside the Red Sea, ¹¹ and then in the wilderness of Sihn.

¹² Next was Dophkah, ¹³ and then Alush; ¹⁴ then on to Rephidim (where there was no water for the people to drink).

^15-37 From Rephidim they went to the wilderness of Sinai; from the wilderness of Sinai to Kibroth-hattaavah;

^38-39 While they were at the foot of Mount Hor, Aaron the priest was directed by the Lord to go up into the mountain, and there he died. This occurred during the fortieth year after the people of Israel had left Egypt. The date of his death was July 15,^[b] when he was 123 years old.

⁴⁰ It was then that the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, in the land of Canaan, heard that the people of Israel were approaching his land. ⁴¹ After dealing with him, the Israelis journeyed from Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah, ⁴² then at Punon, ⁴³ then at Oboth, ⁴⁴ then Iyeabarim (at the border of Moab). ⁴⁵ From there they went to Dibon-gad, ⁴⁶ and then to Almon-diblathaim, ⁴⁷ and on into the mountains of Abarim, near Mount Nebo, ⁴⁸ and finally to the plains of Moab beside the river Jordan, opposite Jericho. ⁴⁹ While in that area they camped at various places along the Jordan River, from Bethjeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim, on the plains of Moab.

^50-51 It was while they were camped there that the Lord told Moses to tell the people of Israel, “When you pass across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, ⁵² you must drive out all the people living there and destroy all their idols—their carved stones, molten images, and the open-air sanctuaries in the hills where they worship their idols. ⁵³ I have given the land to you; take it and live there. ⁵⁴ You will be given land in proportion to the size of your tribes. The larger sections of land will be divided by lot among the larger tribes, and the smaller sections will be allotted to the smaller tribes. ⁵⁵ But if you refuse to drive out the people living there, those who remain will be as cinders in your eyes and thorns in your sides. ⁵⁶ And I will destroy you as I had planned for you to destroy them.”

78 O my people, listen to my teaching. Open your ears to what I am saying. ^2-3 For I will show you lessons from our history, stories handed down to us from former generations. ⁴ I will reveal these truths to you so that you can describe these glorious deeds of Jehovah to your children and tell them about the mighty miracles he did. ⁵ For he gave his laws to Israel and commanded our fathers to teach them to their children, ⁶ so that they in turn could teach their children too. Thus his laws pass down from generation to generation. ⁷ In this way each generation has been able to obey his laws and to set its hope anew on God and not forget his glorious miracles. ⁸ Thus they did not need to be as their fathers were—stubborn, rebellious, unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.

⁹ The people of Ephraim, though fully armed, turned their backs and fled when the day of battle came ¹⁰ because they didn’t obey his laws. They refused to follow his ways. ^11-12 And they forgot about the wonderful miracles God had done for them and for their fathers in Egypt. ¹³ For he divided the sea before them and led them through! The water stood banked up along both sides of them! ¹⁴ In the daytime he led them by a cloud, and at night by a pillar of fire. ¹⁵ He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them plenty of water, as though gushing from a spring. ¹⁶ Streams poured from the rock, flowing like a river!

¹⁷ Yet they kept on with their rebellion, sinning against the God who is above all gods. ¹⁸ They murmured and complained, demanding other food than God was giving them. ^19-20 They even spoke against God himself. “Why can’t he give us decent food as well as water?” they grumbled. ²¹ Jehovah heard them and was angry; the fire of his wrath burned against Israel ²² because they didn’t believe in God or trust in him to care for them, ²³ even though he commanded the skies to open—he opened the windows of heaven— ²⁴ and rained down manna for their food. He gave them bread from heaven! ²⁵ They ate angels’ food! He gave them all they could hold.

²⁶ And he led forth the east wind and guided the south wind by his mighty power. ²⁷ He rained down birds as thick as dust, clouds of them like sands along the shore! ²⁸ He caused the birds to fall to the ground among the tents. ²⁹ The people ate their fill. He gave them what they asked for. ³⁰ But they had hardly finished eating, and the meat was yet in their mouths, ³¹ when the anger of the Lord rose against them and killed the finest of Israel’s young men. ³² Yet even so the people kept on sinning and refused to believe in miracles. ³³ So he cut their lives short and gave them years of terror and disaster.

³⁴ Then at last, when he had ruined them, they walked awhile behind him; how earnestly they turned around and followed him! ³⁵ Then they remembered that God was their Rock—that their Savior was the God above all gods. ³⁶ But it was only with their words that they followed him, not with their hearts; ³⁷ their hearts were far away. They did not keep their promises.

25 O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God; you do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them, just as you said! ² You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. The strongest forts are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt. ³ Therefore strong nations will shake with fear before you; ruthless nations will obey and glorify your name.

⁴ But to the poor, O Lord, you are a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, a shelter from merciless men who are like a driving rain that melts down an earthen wall. ⁵ As a hot, dry land is cooled by clouds, you will cool the pride of ruthless nations. ⁶ Here on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the Lord Almighty will spread a wondrous feast for everyone around the world—a delicious feast of good food, with clear, well-aged wine and choice beef. ⁷ At that time he will remove the cloud of gloom, the pall of death that hangs over the earth; ⁸ he will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe away all tears and take away forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken—he will surely do it!

⁹ In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God in whom we trust, for whom we waited. Now at last he is here.” What a day of rejoicing! ¹⁰ For the Lord’s good hand will rest upon Jerusalem, and Moab will be crushed as straw beneath his feet and left to rot. ¹¹ God will push them down just as a swimmer pushes down the water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. ¹² The high walls of Moab will be demolished and brought to dust.

3 See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children—think of it—and we really are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally they don’t understand that we are his children. ² Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, right now, and we can’t even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when he comes we will be like him, as a result of seeing him as he really is. ³ And everyone who really believes this will try to stay pure because Christ is pure.

⁴ But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is done against the will of God. ⁵ And you know that he became a man so that he could take away our sins, and that there is no sin in him, no missing of God’s will at any time in any way. ⁶ So if we stay close to him, obedient to him, we won’t be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really known him or become his.

⁷ Oh, dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: if you are constantly doing what is good, it is because you are good, even as he is. ⁸ But if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who since he first began to sin has kept steadily at it. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil. ⁹ The person who has been born into God’s family does not make a practice of sinning because now God’s life is in him; so he can’t keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him—he has been born again.

¹⁰ So now we can tell who is a child of God and who belongs to Satan. Whoever is living a life of sin and doesn’t love his brother shows that he is not in God’s family; ¹¹ for the message to us from the beginning has been that we should love one another.

¹² We are not to be like Cain, who belonged to Satan and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing wrong and he knew very well that his brother’s life was better than his. ¹³ So don’t be surprised, dear friends, if the world hates you.

¹⁴ If we love other Christians, it proves that we have been delivered from hell and given eternal life. But a person who doesn’t have love for others is headed for eternal death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates his Christian brother is really a murderer at heart; and you know that no one wanting to murder has eternal life within. ¹⁶ We know what real love is from Christ’s example in dying for us. And so we also ought to lay down our lives for our Christian brothers.

¹⁷ But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won’t help him—how can God’s love be within him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. ¹⁹ Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God’s side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord. ²⁰ But if we have bad consciences and feel that we have done wrong, the Lord will surely feel it even more,^[a] for he knows everything we do.

²¹ But, dearly loved friends, if our consciences are clear, we can come to the Lord with perfect assurance and trust, ²² and get whatever we ask for because we are obeying him and doing the things that please him. ²³ And this is what God says we must do: Believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. ²⁴ Those who do what God says—they are living with God and he with them. We know this is true because the Holy Spirit he has given us tells us so.