M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Destruction of Hormah
21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev,[a] heard that Israel was coming along the Atharim caravan route, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2 Then Israel[b] made this vow in the Lord’s presence: “If you give these people into our control,[c] we intend to devote their cities to total destruction.” 3 When the Lord heard what Israel had decided to do,[d] he delivered the Canaanites to them, and Israel[e] exterminated them and their cities. They named the place Hormah.[f]
The Bronze Serpent
4 After this, they traveled from Mount Hor along the caravan route by way of the Sea of Reeds and went around the land of Edom. But when the people got impatient because it was a long route, 5 the people complained against the Lord and Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” they asked. “There’s no food[g] and water, and we’re tired of this worthless bread.”[h]
6 In response, the Lord sent poisonous[i] serpents among the people to bite them. As a result, many people of Israel died. 7 Then the people approached Moses and admitted, “We’ve sinned by speaking against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord, that he’ll remove[j] the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed in behalf of the people.
8 Then the Lord instructed Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent out of brass and fasten it to a pole. Anyone who has been bitten and who looks at it will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and fastened it to a pole. If a person who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent looked to the serpent,[k] he lived.
Travels in the Wilderness
10 After this, the Israelis traveled and encamped at Oboth. 11 Then they traveled from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is in the vicinity of Moab’s eastern border. 12 From there, they traveled and encamped in the valley of Zered. 13 Then they traveled to the other side of Arnon and camped in the wilderness that borders the territory of the Amorites. (Arnon borders Moab between Moab and the Amorites, 14 which is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord[l] reads, “Waheb and Suphah and the wadis[m] of the Arnon, 15 and the slope of the valleys, that extends to the dwelling places of Ar and the borders of Moab.”)
16 From there they traveled[n] to the Well of Beer, where the Lord had instructed Moses, “Gather the people together and I’ll give you water.” 17 That’s also where Israel sang this song:
Rise up, well!
Sing to it!
18 It’s the well that the leaders dug,
the one carved out by the nobles of the people
with their scepters and staffs.
Then they moved on in the wilderness from there to Mattanah, 19 then from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley of Moab where their fields are, and from there to the top of Mount Pisgah, that looks down toward the open desert.
Israel Conquers the Amorites
21 Later, Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who conveyed this request:[o] 22 “Permit us to pass through your land. We won’t trespass in your fields or vineyards. We won’t drink water from any well, and we’ll only travel along the King’s Highway until we’ve passed through your territory.”
23 Instead of letting Israel pass through his territory, Sihon mustered his entire army and marched out to meet them in the wilderness. He arrived at Jahaz and attacked Israel. 24 But Israel defeated[p] him in battle[q] and took possession of all his lands from Arnon to Jabbok, including the Ammonites, even though the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25 So Israel captured all of those cities, occupied[r] all the Amorite cities in Heshbon, and all its towns.[s] 26 Heshbon was the capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who fought against the previous king of Moab and captured all his land from his capital city[t] to Arnon. 27 Therefore the ones who speak in proverbs say:
Come to Heshbon
and let it be built!
Let the city of Sihon be established!
28 A fire has gone out from Heshbon,
and a flame from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords of the high places who lived in Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, you people of Chemosh!
He has given up his sons as fugitives
and his daughters have gone into captivity
to Sihon, king of the Amorites.
30 We’ve fired at them.
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
We’ve destroyed them as far as Nophah
even as far as Medeba.
31 So Israel lived in Amorite territory.
Israel Conquers Bashan
32 Then Moses sent out explorers to scout Jazer. They captured its towns[u] and drove out the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned toward Bashan. However, Og, the king of Bashan, mustered his army and went out to attack them at Edrei. 34 The Lord told Moses, “You are not to fear him, because I’m going to deliver him, his entire army, and his land into your control. Do to him just what you’ve done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who used to live in Heshbon.” 35 So they attacked him, his sons, and his entire army, until there wasn’t even a single survivor left. Then they took possession of his land.
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of[a] “Lily of The Covenant,” for teaching about his battle with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, when Joab returned and attacked 12,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley.[b]
A Prayer for God’s Help against Adversaries
60 God, you have cast us off;
you have breached our defenses
and you have become enraged.
Return to us!
2 You made the earth quake;
you broke it open.
Repair its fractures,
because it has shifted.
3 You made your people go through hard times;
you had us drink wine that makes us stagger.
4 But you have given a banner to those who fear you,
so they may display it in honor of truth.[c]
5 So your loved ones may be delivered,
save us by your power[d]
and answer us quickly!
6 Then God spoke in his holiness,
“I will rejoice—
I will divide Shechem;
I will portion out the Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead belongs to me,
and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet,
and Judah my scepter.
8 Moab is my wash basin;
over Edom I will throw my shoes;
over Philistia I will celebrate my triumph.”
9 Who will lead me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Aren’t you the one, God, who has cast us off?
Didn’t you refuse, God, to accompany our armies?
11 Help us in our distress,
for human help is worthless.
12 Through God we will fight[e] valiantly;
and it is he who will crush our enemies.[f]
To the Director: A composition[g] by David for stringed instruments.
A Prayer for God’s Protection
61 God, hear my cry;
pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to you
whenever my heart is overwhelmed.
Place me on the rock that’s too high for me.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength before the enemy.
4 Let me make my home in your tent forever;
let me hide under the shelter of your wings.
5 For you, God, have heard my promises;
you have assigned to me[h] the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Add day after day to the king’s life;
may his years continue[i] for many generations.
7 May he be enthroned before God forever;
Appoint your[j] gracious love and truth to guard him.
8 So I will sing songs to your name forever;
I will fulfill my promises day by day.
Assyria is an Instrument of Judgment
5 “How terrible it will be
for Assyria, the rod of my anger!
The club is in their hands![a]
6 I’m sending my fury[b] against a godless nation,
and I’ll command him against the people with whom I’m angry
to seize loot and snatch plunder,
and to trample them down
like mud in the streets.
7 But this is not what he intends,
and this is not what he thinks in his mind;
but it is in his mind to destroy,
and to cut down[c] many nations.
8 “Because this is what he is saying:
‘My commanders are all kings, are they not?
9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the idolatrous kingdoms[d]
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols
as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?’”
Assyria will be Judged
12 “For[e] the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem; he will punish the speech that comes from that willful[f] heart of Assyria’s king and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 He keeps bragging:[g]
‘I’ve done it by the strength of my hand,
and by my wisdom,
because I’m so clever.[h]
I removed the boundaries of peoples,
and plundered their treasures;
like a bull I brought down
those who sat on thrones.
14 My hand has found, as if in a nest,
the wealth of the people;
and as one gathers eggs that have been abandoned,
so I have gathered all the inhabitants of the[i] earth.
Nothing moved a wing,
opened its mouth,
or chirped.’
15 “Does the ax exalt itself
over the one who swings it?
Or does the saw magnify itself
in opposition to the one who wields it?
As if a rod were to wield those who lift[j] it,
or as if a club were to brandish the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord God[k] of the Heavenly Armies will send a wasting disease
among Assyria’s[l] sturdy warriors,
and under its glory a conflagration will be kindled,
like a blazing bonfire.
17 “The light of Israel will become a fire,
and its Holy One a flame,
and it will burn
and consume Assyria’s[m] thorns and briers
in a single day.
18 The splendor of its forest and its fruitful land
the Lord will destroy—
both soul and body—
and Assyria[n] will be
as when a dying man wastes away.
19 What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few
that a child can count them.”[o]
The Remnant Returns
20 At that time, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on the one who struck them down, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. 22 For even if your people of Israel number as many as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Overwhelming, righteous destruction is decreed, 23 because the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies[p] will bring about destruction, as has been decreed, throughout[q] the entire region.[r]
24 Therefore this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies says: “My people, you who live in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrians, of the rod that beats you,[s] who lift up their club against you as the Egyptians did. 25 In just a little while, my fury will come to an end, and my anger then will be directed to their destruction.[t] 26 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies will brandish a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;[u] and as his staff was stretched out[v] over the sea,[w] so he will lift it up as he did in Egypt. 27 At that time,[x] his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck. Indeed, the yoke will be broken, because you’ve become obese.”[y]
The Coming Judgment of God
28 “The Assyrian commander[z] has come upon[aa] Aiath
and has passed through Migron;
he stores his supplies at Michmash.
29 He has[ab] crossed over by[ac] the pass;
his overnight lodging is at Geba.
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, you daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laish![ad]
Poor Anathoth!
31 Marmenah[ae] is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim take cover.
32 This very day he will halt at Nob;[af]
he will shake[ag] his fists[ah]
at the mountain that is the Daughter of Zion,
at Jerusalem’s hill.
33 Behold, the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
will lop off its[ai] boughs with terrifying power;
the tallest in height will be cut down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest
with an ax,
and Lebanon will fall
by the Majestic One.”[aj]
Stop Fighting with Each Other
4 Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they? 2 You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them! 3 You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God[a] caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?[b] 6 But he gives all the more grace. And so he says,
“God opposes the arrogant
but gives grace to the humble.”[c]
7 Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. 8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.
Do Not Criticize Each Other
11 Do not criticize each other, brothers. Whoever makes it his habit to criticize his brother or to judge his brother is judging the Law and condemning the Law. But if you condemn the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but its judge. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge—the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do Not Boast about Future Plans
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” 14 You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live—and do this or that.” 16 But you boast about your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin.
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