M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
War against the Midianites
31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘You must punish the Midianites because they caused the Israelites to worship idols. After you have done that, you will die.’
3 Moses said to the people, ‘Choose some men to go and fight against the Midianites. Give them weapons to punish the Midianites as the Lord wants. 4 Choose 1,000 men from each Israelite tribe to go and fight.’
5 They did that. There were 12,000 men ready with weapons to fight the battle. 6 Moses sent those men out to fight. There were 1,000 men from each tribe. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, went with them. Phinehas took with him the special things from God's Holy Tent. He also took the trumpets to make sounds for the battle.
7 They attacked the Midianites as the Lord had told them. They killed all the men. 8 That included the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with a sword.
9 Israel's men took hold of the women and children of Midian. They took their animals and everything that was valuable. 10 They burned all their towns and their camps. 11 They took for themselves the people, the animals and everything that was valuable. 12 They took all the prisoners and the things that they had taken to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest. They brought them to the camp of the Israelites. That was on the flat ground in Moab beside the Jordan River. Jericho was on the other side of the river.
13 Moses, Eleazar and the leaders of the Israelites went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the leaders and the officers of the army who had come back from the battle against the Midianites.
15 Moses said to them, ‘Why have you let all the women live? 16 You should not have done that. These women caused the Israelites to turn against the Lord. They did what Balaam said to them at Peor. As a result, a bad disease killed many of the Lord's people. 17 Because of that, kill all the boys, and kill every woman who has had sex with a man. 18 But as for the girls who have not had sex with a man, you may keep them for yourselves.’
19 Moses said, ‘Any soldier who has killed someone, or who has touched a dead body is unclean. He must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day, you must wash yourselves to become clean. You must do the same thing to your Midianite prisoners. 20 You must also make these things clean: any clothes or anything made from leather, wool or wood.’
21 Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers, ‘This is the rule that the Lord told Moses: 22 You must put all the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, and other metals in a fire. 23 Put in the fire anything that the fire will not destroy. The fire will make those things clean. But you must also wash them with water. As for anything that the fire would destroy, wash them with water to make them clean. 24 On the seventh day, you must wash your clothes. After that you will be clean again. Then you can come into the camp.’
They shared the things that they had taken
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 ‘You and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the family clans must count all the people and animals that you took in the battle. 27 Give one half of all those things to the soldiers who went to fight the war against the Midianites. Give the other half to the rest of the people. 28 From the half which belongs to the soldiers, keep one part out of every 500. Do that with the Midianite prisoners, the cows, the donkeys and the sheep. Those parts will be for the Lord. 29 Give those to Eleazar the priest. He will offer them to the Lord. 30 From the half that belongs to the people, keep one part out of every 50. Do that with the Midianite prisoners, the cows, the donkeys and the sheep. Those parts will be for the Levites who take care of the Lord's special tent.’
31 Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord said.
32 The soldiers had brought from the battle: 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cows, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 young women who had not had sex with a man.
36 The soldiers' half included 337,500 sheep. 37 So there were 675 sheep for the Lord. 38 The soldiers' half also included 36,000 cows. So there were 72 cows for the Lord. 39 The soldiers' half also included 30,500 donkeys. So there were 61 donkeys for the Lord. 40 The soldiers' half also included 16,000 people. So there were 32 people for the Lord.
41 Moses gave the part that was for the Lord to Eleazar, the priest. He would offer these to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42 Moses made the half for the Israelite people separate from the half that was for the soldiers. 43 The people's half included 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cows, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the Israelites' half, Moses took one part out of every 50. He gave those to the Levites who took care of the Lord's special tent. That was what the Lord had commanded Moses to do.
48 Then the leaders and the officers of the army went to Moses. 49 They said to him: ‘We have counted the soldiers who went to fight against the Midianites. They have all come back safely. 50 So we have brought a gift to offer to the Lord. We have brought gold rings, ear-rings, necklaces and other gold things that people wear. They are gifts to remove our sins so that the Lord will forgive us.’
51 Moses and Eleazar took all the gold things that the soldiers' officers and leaders brought to them. 52 They weighed all the gold that was offered to the Lord. The weight was 16,750 shekels. 53 The soldiers had also taken gold things from the enemy for themselves. 54 Moses and Eleazar took the gold gifts from the soldiers' officers and leaders into the Tent of Meeting. It would help the Israelites to remember how the Lord had helped them.
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.
God judges people fairly
75 God, we thank you!
Yes, we thank you!
You are very near to us.
People everywhere say what great things you have done.
2 God says, ‘I choose the time when I will judge people,
and I will be a fair judge.
3 When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid,
I will keep its foundations strong.’
Selah.
4 I say to people who are proud,
‘Do not be proud.’
I say to wicked people,
‘Do not boast about your power.
5 Do not boast against God.
Do not speak with such proud words.’
6 Who has the power to judge people?
Nobody from the east, or from the west,
or from the desert can be judge.
7 God is the one who judges people.
He decides who to bring down
and who to lift up.[a]
8 The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand.[b]
It is full of wine, with spices in it.
The Lord pours out his anger from this cup.
All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it.
They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
9 But as for me, I will always thank you, God.
I will sing to praise you,
the God of Jacob.
10 You say, ‘I will destroy the power of wicked people.
I will give strength to my righteous people.’
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote for the music leader. Sing it with the music of stringed instruments.
God has great power
76 People in Judah know who God is.
He is famous in Israel.[c]
2 His home is in Salem.
Yes, he lives in Zion.[d]
3 There he destroyed all the weapons of our enemy,
their arrows, their shields,
and their swords.
He destroyed everything that they use to fight wars.
Selah.
4 God, you are the one who shines with glory!
You are greater than the greatest mountains.
5 You won against brave soldiers,
so that we robbed them of everything.
Now they are sleeping,
and they will never wake up!
They are completely helpless.
6 God of Jacob,
when your enemies heard your battle cry,
both the horses and their riders fell down dead.
7 Yes, everyone is afraid of you, our God!
When you are angry,
nobody can stand against you.
8 From heaven you said how you would judge people.
Everybody on earth became afraid.
They could not say anything!
9 This happened when you came to punish wicked people.
You came to rescue the weak and poor people in the land.
Selah.
10 Everybody will praise you,
even those who are angry against you.
You will show them how angry you really are.[e]
11 Make promises to the Lord your God,
and do what you have promised.
Everyone who serves God should bring gifts to him.
We must respect him with fear.
12 He makes proud rulers become humble.
All the kings of the world should be afraid of him.
A message about Tyre
23 This is a message about Tyre.
Weep aloud, you people in the great ships of Tarshish. An enemy has destroyed the port and the houses of Tyre. They heard this news in Cyprus.
2 Weep quietly, you people who live on the coast of the sea. Yes, weep, you traders of Sidon city. Your sailors travelled across the sea and you became rich. 3 They brought grain to you from Shihor region in Egypt. You received crops that had grown beside the Nile river. Tyre became an important city where traders from many nations came.
4 Be ashamed, you people in Sidon. You have become strong because of the sea. But the sea now speaks against you! It says, ‘I have not given birth to any children. I have not taken care of any sons or daughters as a parent should do.’
5 When the people in Egypt hear the news about Tyre, they will be very sad and upset.
6 Travel to Tarshish! Weep aloud, you people who live on the coast of the sea. 7 Tyre is a city where you had many parties. It has been there since long ago. People from this city went to live in foreign countries far away. 8 It is a royal city and its traders are princes. They are famous everywhere on earth. So who decided to destroy it?
9 The Lord Almighty did that! He decided to show that the pride of those people is useless. He decided to bring all those famous people down low.
10 People of Tarshish, now you will have to grow your own crops. Grow them like they do beside the Nile river. Traders no longer come to Tyre to sell their things.
11 The Lord has lifted his hand up over the sea. He has made kingdoms shake with fear. He has given his command against Canaan, to destroy all its strong places.[a]
12 He says to Sidon's people, ‘Your parties have finished! Now it will be a time of pain for you. Move away, if you can! Travel to Cyprus. But you will still not be safe there.’
13 Look at what happened in Babylonia. Its people have disappeared! The Assyrian army has made it a place for wild animals to live in. Their soldiers built hills of earth against the city's walls. They climbed over and they destroyed its strong buildings. Babylon's buildings became heaps of stones.
14 So weep aloud, you great ships of Tarshish. Enemies have destroyed your strong place.
15 At that time people will forget Tyre for 70 years. That is how long one king lives. At the end of 70 years, there will be a change in Tyre. It will happen to them like the song about the prostitute:
16 ‘Prostitute that people have forgotten,
walk about the city with your harp.
Play it well. Sing many songs.
Then people will remember you again.’
17 At the end of 70 years, the Lord will be kind to Tyre. People from all the nations of the world will come to Tyre to buy things. Tyre will receive their money, like the prostitute in the song. 18 But the money that Tyre receives will belong to the Lord. Tyre's traders will not hide their riches or store them. Their money will buy plenty of food and beautiful clothes for people who worship the Lord.
Jesus is God's message to people
1 We have an important message to tell you. We want to tell you about the person who was already there before the beginning of the world. We have heard him speak. We have seen him with our own eyes. We watched him and we touched him. He is the Word that gives us life with God.[a]
2 He showed himself clearly when he lived on this earth. From long ago he was together with God the Father, and he lives for ever. We saw him and we are telling you what is true. He is the one who has shown himself to us. 3 We also want you to share this new life with us. We share this life with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son. That is why we are telling you about everything that we have seen and heard. 4 We are writing to you so that together we all may be completely happy.
God is light
5 We are telling you the good news that Jesus Christ told to us. This is the message: God is completely good and clean. He is like light. There is nothing dark about him. 6 Do you say that you share in the life that God gives? If you say that, but if you still live in the dark, you are telling a lie. You are not living in God's true way. 7 But when we live in a right way, it is like living in the light. God is always in the light. So, if we live in the light, we share together in the life which God gives. And when Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross, he saved us from all our sins. The blood of his sacrifice makes us clean.
8 If we say that we never do any wrong thing, we are deceiving ourselves. Even though we may think it is true, it is a lie. 9 Instead, we should agree that we have done wrong things and tell that to God. Then God will forgive us for our sins. He always does what he has promised to do. He always does what is right. He will forgive us and he will make us clean again, whatever bad things we may have done. 10 God says that all people have done wrong things. So, if we say that we have not done any wrong thing, we are saying that God tells lies. It shows that we have not accepted his message at all.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.