M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The People Are Counted
26 After the great sickness, the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Count all the people of Israel by families. Count all the men who are twenty years old or older who will serve in the army of Israel.” 3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to the people on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. They said, 4 “Count the men twenty years old or older, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Here are the Israelites who came out of Egypt:
5 The tribe of Reuben, the first son born to Israel, was counted. From Hanoch came the Hanochite family group; from Pallu came the Palluite family group; 6 from Hezron came the Hezronite family group; from Carmi came the Carmite family group. 7 These were the family groups of Reuben, and the total number of men was 43,730.
8 The son of Pallu was Eliab, 9 and Eliab’s sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the leaders who turned against Moses and Aaron and followed Korah when he turned against the Lord. 10 The earth opened up and swallowed them and Korah; they died at the same time the fire burned up the 250 men. This was a warning, 11 but the children of Korah did not die.
12 These were the family groups in the tribe of Simeon: From Nemuel came the Nemuelite family group; from Jamin came the Jaminite family group; from Jakin came the Jakinite family group; 13 from Zerah came the Zerahite family group; from Shaul came the Shaulite family group. 14 These were the family groups of Simeon, and the total number of men was 22,200.
15 These were the family groups in the tribe of Gad: From Zephon came the Zephonite family group; from Haggi came the Haggite family group; from Shuni came the Shunite family group; 16 from Ozni came the Oznite family group; from Eri came the Erite family group; 17 from Arodi came the Arodite family group; from Areli came the Arelite family group. 18 These were the family groups of Gad, and the total number of men was 40,500.
19 Two of Judah’s sons, Er and Onan, died in Canaan.
20 These were the family groups in the tribe of Judah: From Shelah came the Shelanite family group; from Perez came the Perezite family group; from Zerah came the Zerahite family group. 21 These were the family groups from Perez: From Hezron came the Hezronite family group; from Hamul came the Hamulite family group. 22 These were the family groups of Judah, and the total number of men was 76,500.
23 These were the family groups in the tribe of Issachar: From Tola came the Tolaite family group; from Puah came the Puite family group; 24 from Jashub came the Jashubite family group; from Shimron came the Shimronite family group. 25 These were the family groups of Issachar, and the total number of men was 64,300.
26 These were the family groups in the tribe of Zebulun: From Sered came the Seredite family group; from Elon came the Elonite family group; from Jahleel came the Jahleelite family group. 27 These were the family groups of Zebulun, and the total number of men was 60,500.
28 These were the family groups of Joseph through Manasseh and Ephraim.
29 These were the family groups of Manasseh: From Makir came the Makirite family group (Makir was the father of Gilead); from Gilead came the Gileadite family group. 30 These were the family groups that came from Gilead: From Iezer came the Iezerite family group; from Helek came the Helekite family group; 31 from Asriel came the Asrielite family group; from Shechem came the Shechemite family group; 32 from Shemida came the Shemidaite family group; from Hepher came the Hepherite family group. 33 (Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, and their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.) 34 These were the family groups of Manasseh, and the total number of men was 52,700.
35 These were the family groups in the tribe of Ephraim: From Shuthelah came the Shuthelahite family group; from Beker came the Bekerite family group; from Tahan came the Tahanite family group. 36 This was the family group from Shuthelah: From Eran came the Eranite family group. 37 These were the family groups of Ephraim, and the total number of men was 32,500. These are the family groups that came from Joseph.
38 These were the family groups in the tribe of Benjamin: From Bela came the Belaite family group; from Ashbel came the Ashbelite family group; from Ahiram came the Ahiramite family group; 39 from Shupham came the Shuphamite family group; from Hupham came the Huphamite family group. 40 These were the family groups from Bela through Ard and Naaman: From Ard came the Ardite family group; from Naaman came the Naamite family group. 41 These were the family groups of Benjamin, and the total number of men was 45,600.
42 This was the family group in the tribe of Dan: From Shuham came the Shuhamite family group. That was the family of Dan, 43 and the total number of men in the Shuhamite family group of Dan was 64,400.
44 These were the family groups in the tribe of Asher: From Imnah came the Imnite family group; from Ishvi came the Ishvite family group; from Beriah came the Beriite family group. 45 These were the family groups that came from Beriah: From Heber came the Heberite family group; from Malkiel came the Malkielite family group. 46 (Asher also had a daughter named Serah.) 47 These were the family groups of Asher, and the total number of men was 53,400.
48 These were the family groups in the tribe of Naphtali: From Jahzeel came the Jahzeelite family group; from Guni came the Gunite family group; 49 from Jezer came the Jezerite family group; from Shillem came the Shillemite family group. 50 These were the family groups of Naphtali, and the total number of men was 45,400.
51 So the total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.
52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 “Divide the land among these people by the number of names. 54 A large tribe will get more land, and a small tribe will get less land; the amount of land each tribe gets will depend on the number of its people. 55 Divide the land by drawing lots, and the land each tribe gets will be named for that tribe. 56 Divide the land between large and small groups by drawing lots.”
57 The tribe of Levi was also counted. These were the family groups of Levi: From Gershon came the Gershonite family group; from Kohath came the Kohathite family group; from Merari came the Merarite family group. 58 These also were Levite family groups: the Libnite family group, the Hebronite family group, the Mahlite family group, the Mushite family group, and the Korahite family group. (Kohath was the ancestor of Amram, 59 whose wife was named Jochebed. She was from the tribe of Levi and she was born in Egypt. She and Amram had two sons, Aaron and Moses, and their sister Miriam. 60 Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died because they made an offering before the Lord with the wrong kind of fire.)
62 The total number of male Levites one month old or older was 23,000. But these men were not counted with the other Israelites, because they were not given any of the land among the other Israelites.
63 Moses and Eleazar the priest counted all these people. They counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. 64 Moses and Aaron the priest had counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai, but no one Moses counted on the plains of Moab was in the first counting. 65 The Lord had told the Israelites they would all die in the desert, and the only two left were Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
A Cry for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A psalm of David.
69 God, save me,
because the water has risen to my neck.
2 I’m sinking down into the mud,
and there is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water,
and the flood covers me.
3 I am tired from calling for help;
my throat is sore.
My eyes are tired from waiting
for God to help me.
4 There are more people who hate me for no reason than hairs on my head;
powerful enemies want to destroy me for no reason.
They make me pay back
what I did not steal.
5 God, you know what I have done wrong;
I cannot hide my guilt from you.
6 Lord God All-Powerful,
do not let those who hope in you be ashamed because of me.
God of Israel,
do not let your worshipers be disgraced because of me.
7 For you, I carry this shame,
and my face is covered with disgrace.
8 I am like a stranger to my closest relatives
and a foreigner to my mother’s children.
9 My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.
When people insult you, it hurts me.
10 When I cry and fast,
they make fun of me.
11 When I wear clothes of sadness,
they joke about me.
12 They make fun of me in public places,
and the drunkards make up songs about me.
13 But I pray to you, Lord, for favor.
God, because of your great love, answer me.
You are truly able to save.
14 Pull me from the mud,
and do not let me sink.
Save me from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let the flood drown me
or the deep water swallow me
or the grave close its mouth over me.
16 Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Because of your great kindness, turn to me.
17 Do not hide from me, your servant.
I am in trouble. Hurry to help me!
18 Come near and save me;
rescue me from my enemies.
19 You see my shame and disgrace.
You know all my enemies and what they have said.
20 Insults have broken my heart
and left me weak.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
I found no one to comfort me.
21 They put poison in my food
and gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their own feasts cause their ruin;
let their feasts trap them and pay them back.
23 Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see
and their backs be forever weak from troubles.
24 Pour your anger out on them;
let your anger catch up with them.
25 May their place be empty;
leave no one to live in their tents.
26 They chase after those you have hurt,
and they talk about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Charge them with crime after crime,
and do not let them have anything good.
28 Wipe their names from the book of life,
and do not list them with those who do what is right.
29 I am sad and hurting.
God, save me and protect me.
30 I will praise God in a song
and will honor him by giving thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than offering him cattle,
more than sacrificing a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Poor people will see this and be glad.
Be encouraged, you who worship God.
33 The Lord listens to those in need
and does not look down on captives.
34 Heaven and earth should praise him,
the seas and everything in them.
35 God will save Jerusalem
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will live there and own the land.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit that land,
and those who love him will live there.
16 Send the king of the land
the payment he demands.
Send a lamb from Sela through the desert
to the mountain of Jerusalem.
2 The women of Moab
try to cross the river Arnon
like little birds
that have fallen from their nest.
3 They say: “Help us.
Tell us what to do.
Protect us from our enemies
as shade protects us from the noon sun.
Hide us, because we are running for safety!
Don’t give us to our enemies.
4 Let those of us who were forced out of Moab live in your land.
Hide us from our enemies.”
The robbing of Moab will stop.
The enemy will be defeated;
those who hurt others will disappear from the land.
5 Then a new loyal king will come;
this faithful king will be from the family of David.
He will judge fairly
and do what is right.
6 We have heard that the people of Moab are proud
and very conceited.
They are very proud and angry,
but their bragging means nothing.
7 So the people of Moab will cry;
they will all be sad.
They will moan and groan
for the raisin cakes they had in Kir Hareseth.
8 But the fields of Heshbon and the vines of Sibmah cannot grow grapes;
foreign rulers have destroyed the grapevines.
The grapevines once spread as far as the city of Jazer and into the desert;
they had spread as far as the sea.
9 I cry with the people of Jazer
for the grapevines of Sibmah.
I will cry with the people of Heshbon and Elealeh.
There will be no shouts of joy,
because there will be no harvest or ripe fruit.
10 There will be no joy and happiness in the orchards
and no songs or shouts of joy in the vineyards.
No one makes wine in the winepresses,
because I have put an end to shouts of joy.
11 My heart cries for Moab like a harp playing a funeral song;
I am very sad for Kir Hareseth.
12 The people of Moab will go to their places of worship
and will try to pray.
But when they go to their temple to pray,
they will not be able.
13 Earlier the Lord said these things about Moab. 14 Now the Lord says, “In three years all those people and what they take pride in will be hated. (This is three years as a hired helper would count time.) There will be a few people left, but they will be weak.”
Change Your Lives
4 Since Christ suffered while he was in his body, strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking Christ had. The person who has suffered in the body is finished with sin. 2 Strengthen yourselves so that you will live here on earth doing what God wants, not the evil things people want. 3 In the past you wasted too much time doing what nonbelievers enjoy. You were guilty of sexual sins, evil desires, drunkenness, wild and drunken parties, and hateful idol worship. 4 Nonbelievers think it is strange that you do not do the many wild and wasteful things they do, so they insult you. 5 But they will have to explain this to God, who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the Good News was preached to those who are now dead. Even though they were judged like all people, the Good News was preached to them so they could live in the spirit as God lives.
Use God’s Gifts Wisely
7 The time is near when all things will end. So think clearly and control yourselves so you will be able to pray. 8 Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause people to forgive each other for many sins. 9 Open your homes to each other, without complaining. 10 Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace. 11 Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. Anyone who serves should serve with the strength God gives so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ. Power and glory belong to him forever and ever. Amen.
Suffering as a Christian
12 My friends, do not be surprised at the terrible trouble which now comes to test you. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. 13 But be happy that you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings so that you will be happy and full of joy when Christ comes again in glory. 14 When people insult you because you follow Christ, you are blessed, because the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is with you. 15 Do not suffer for murder, theft, or any other crime, nor because you trouble other people. 16 But if you suffer because you are a Christian, do not be ashamed. Praise God because you wear that name. 17 It is time for judgment to begin with God’s family. And if that judging begins with us, what will happen to those people who do not obey the Good News of God?
18 “If it is very hard for a good person to be saved,
the wicked person and the sinner will surely be lost!”[a]
19 So those who suffer as God wants should trust their souls to the faithful Creator as they continue to do what is right.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.