M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
War with the Canaanites
21 The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the southern area. He heard that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim. So he attacked them and captured some of them. 2 Then the Israelites made this promise to the Lord: “If you will help us defeat these people, we will completely destroy their cities.” 3 The Lord listened to the Israelites. And he let them defeat the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed the Canaanites and their cities. So the place was named Hormah.[a]
The Bronze Snake
4 The Israelites left Mount Hor and went on the road toward the Gulf of Aqaba. They did this to go around the country of Edom. But the people became impatient on the way. 5 They grumbled at God and Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? We will die in this desert! There is no bread! There is no water! And we hate this terrible food!”
6 So the Lord sent them poisonous snakes. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we grumbled at you and the Lord. Pray that the Lord will take away these snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a bronze snake. And put it on a pole. If anyone is bitten, he should look at it. Then he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake. And he put it on a pole. Then when a snake bit anyone, he looked at the bronze snake and lived.
The Journey to Moab
10 The Israelites went and camped at Oboth. 11 They went from Oboth to Iye Abarim. This was in the desert east of Moab. 12 From there they went and camped in the Zered Valley. 13 From there they went and camped across the Arnon. This was in the desert just inside the Amorite country. The Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. 14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says:
“. . . and Waheb in Suphah, and the ravines,
the Arnon, 15 and the slopes of the ravines
that lead to the settlement of Ar.
These places are at the border of Moab.”
16 The Israelites went from there to Beer. A well is there where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people. I will give them water.”
17 Then the Israelites sang this song:
“Pour out water, well!
Sing about it.
18 Princes dug this well.
Important men made this hole.
With their scepters and poles, they dug it.”
The people went from the desert to Mattanah. 19 From Mattanah they went to Nahaliel and on to Bamoth. 20 From Bamoth they went to the valley of Moab. There the top of Mount Pisgah looks over the desert.
Sihon and Og
21 The people of Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites. They said to him, 22 “Let us pass through your country. We will not go through any fields of grain or vineyards. We will not drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the king’s road. We will stay on it until we have passed through your country.”
23 But King Sihon would not let the Israelites pass through his country. He gathered his army together. They marched out to meet Israel in the desert. At Jahaz they fought the Israelites. 24 Israel killed the king. Then they captured his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They took the land as far as the Ammonite border. That border was strongly defended. 25 Israel captured all the Amorite cities and lived in them. They took Heshbon and all the towns around it. 26 Heshbon was the city where Sihon, the Amorite king, lived. In the past he had fought with the king of Moab. Sihon had taken all the land as far as the Arnon.
27 That is why the poets say:
“Come to Heshbon
and rebuild it.
Rebuild Sihon’s city.
28 A fire began in Heshbon.
Flames came from Sihon’s city.
It destroyed Ar in Moab.
It burned the Arnon highlands.
29 How terrible for you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh are ruined.
His sons ran away.
His daughters were captured
by Sihon, king of the Amorites.
30 But we defeated those Amorites.
We ruined their towns from Heshbon to Dibon.
We destroyed them as far as Nophah, near Medeba.”
31 So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
32 Moses sent spies to the town of Jazer. Then they captured the towns around it. They forced out the Amorites who lived there.
33 Then the Israelites went up the road toward Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, and his army marched out to meet the Israelites. They fought at Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him. I will hand him, his whole army and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who lived in Heshbon.”
35 So the Israelites killed Og and his sons and all his army. No one was left alive. And they took his land.
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated 12,000 Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Fix its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can escape the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
12 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry.
Listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth.
I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Protect me as a bird protects its young under its wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me the things that belong to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life.
Let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever.
And every day I will keep my promises.
God Will Punish Assyria
5 God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria.
I use him like a stick.
In anger I use Assyria like a club.
6 I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God.
I am angry with those people.
So I command Assyria to fight against them.
Assyria will take their wealth from them.
Judah will become like dirt for them to walk on in the streets.
7 But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him.
He doesn’t know he is a tool for me.
He only wants to destroy other people.
He plans to destroy many nations.
8 The king of Assyria says to himself,
‘All of my commanders are like kings.
9 The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.
And the city Hamath is like the city Arpad.
The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.
10 I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols.
And those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.
11 I defeated Samaria and her idols.
So I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’”
12 The Lord will finish doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud. His pride made him do these bad things. So God will punish him. 13 The king of Assyria says this:
“By my own power I have done these things.
By my wisdom I have defeated many nations.
I have taken their wealth.
And like a mighty one, I have taken their people.
14 I have taken the riches of all these people,
like one who reaches into a bird’s nest.
I have taken these nations,
like a person taking eggs.
No one raised a hand against me.
No one opened his mouth to stop me.”
15 An ax is not better than the person who swings it.
A saw is not better than the person who uses it.
A stick cannot control the person who picks it up.
A club cannot pick up the person!
16 So the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will send a terrible disease against Assyria’s soldiers.
The strength of Assyria will be burned up.
It will be like a fire burning until everything is gone.
17 God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire.
The Holy One will be like a flame.
He will be like a fire
that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns.
18 The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands.
It will destroy everything.
Things will be like a sick man who wastes away.
19 Only a few trees will be left standing.
There will be so few even a child will be able to count them.
20 At that time some people will be left alive in Israel
from the family of Jacob.
They will not continue to depend
on the person who defeated them.
They will learn truly to depend on the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
21 The people who are left alive in Jacob’s family
will again follow the powerful God.
22 Israel, your people are very many.
They are like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be left alive to return to the Lord.
God has announced that he will destroy the land
completely and fairly.
23 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, will certainly destroy this land.
He will destroy it as he has announced.
24 This is what the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, says:
“My people living in Jerusalem,
don’t be afraid of the Assyrians.
They beat you with a rod.
They raise a stick to hurt you, as Egypt did.
25 But after a short time my anger will stop.
Then I will turn my anger to destroying them.”
26 Then the Lord of heaven’s armies will beat the Assyrians with a whip.
He will defeat them as he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise his stick over the waters
as he did in Egypt.
27 Then the troubles that Assyria puts on you
will be removed.
The load they make you carry
will be taken away.
Assyria Invades Israel
28 The army of Assyria will enter near Aiath.
They will walk through Migron.
They will store their food in Micmash.
29 The army will go over the pass.
They will sleep at Geba.
The people of Ramah will be afraid.
The people at Gibeah of Saul will run away.
30 Cry out, Bath Gallim!
Laishah, listen!
Poor Anathoth!
31 The people of Madmenah are running away.
The people of Gebim are hiding.
32 This day the army will stop at Nob.
And the army will shake their fist at Mount Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Watch! The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will chop them down like a great tree.
He will do this with his great power.
Those who are great will be cut down.
Those who are important will fall to the ground.
34 The Lord will cut them down
as a forest is cut down with an ax.
And the great trees of Lebanon
will fall by the power of the Mighty One.
Give Yourselves to God
4 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things only so that you can use them for your own pleasures.
4 So, you people are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. So if a person wants to be a friend of the world, he makes himself God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone.”[a] 6 But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says,
“God is against the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34
7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run away from you. 8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You are sinners. So clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. 9 Be sad, cry, and weep! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. 10 Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will honor you.
You Are Not the Judge
11 Brothers, do not say bad things about each other. If you say bad things about your brother in Christ or judge him, then you are saying bad things about the law he follows. You are also judging the law he follows. And when you are judging the law, you are not a follower of the law. You have become a judge! 12 God is the only One who makes laws, and he is the only Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge your neighbor.
Let God Plan Your Life
13 Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” 14 But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. 15 So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But now you are proud and you brag. All of this bragging is wrong. 17 And when a person knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, then he is sinning.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.