M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses Speaks to the People 40 Years after Leaving Egypt
1 This is the speech Moses gave in the desert east of the Jordan River, on the plains, near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and near Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab. He spoke to all the Israelites. 2 (It takes 11 days to go from Mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by way of Mount Seir.)
3 On the first day of the eleventh month in the fortieth year after they had left Egypt, Moses told the Israelites everything Yahweh had commanded him to tell them. 4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and[a] in Edrei. 5 The Israelites were east of the Jordan River in Moab when Moses began to review God’s teachings.
Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Mount Horeb
This is what he said:
6 At Mount Horeb Yahweh our Elohim said to us, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Break camp, and get ready! Go to the mountain region of the Amorites, and go to everyone living on the plains, in the mountains, in the foothills, in the Negev, on the whole Mediterranean coast (the land of the Canaanites), and into Lebanon as far as the Euphrates River. 8 I’m giving you this land. Enter, and take possession of the land Yahweh swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to you, their descendants.”
9 At that time I said to you, “I’m not able to take care of you by myself. 10 Yahweh your Elohim has made your population increase so that you are now as numerous as the stars in the sky. 11 May Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors make you a thousand times more numerous, and may he bless you as he has promised. 12 How can I take care of your problems, your troubles, and your disagreements all by myself? 13 From each of your tribes, choose some men who are wise, intelligent, and experienced, and I’ll appoint them to be your leaders.”
14 You agreed that this was a good idea.
15 So I took the heads of your tribes who were wise and experienced men and made them officers for each of your tribes. I put them in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10 people. 16 Also at that time I gave these instructions to your judges: “Hear the cases that your people bring. Judge each case fairly, no matter whether it is a dispute between two Israelites or a dispute between an Israelite and a non-Israelite. 17 Be impartial in your decisions. Listen to the least important people the same way you listen to the most important people. Never be afraid of anyone, since your decisions come from Elohim. You may bring me any case that’s too hard for you, and I will hear it.” 18 So I told you how to handle these situations.
Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Kadesh Barnea
19 So we left Mount Horeb, as Yahweh our Elohim had commanded. We traveled through all that vast and dangerous desert you saw on the way to the mountain region of the Amorites. At last we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, “We have come to the mountain region of the Amorites, which Yahweh our Elohim is giving us. 21 Yahweh your Elohim is giving you this land. Go ahead! Take possession of it, as Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors told you. Don’t be afraid or terrified.”
22 All of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men ahead of us to gather information about the land for us. Have them report to us about the route we should take and the cities we’ll come to.”
23 It seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of your men, one from each tribe. 24 They left and went into the mountains. When they came to the Eshcol Valley, they explored it. 25 They took some of the region’s fruit with them and brought it back to us. They reported, “The land that Yahweh our Elohim is giving us is good.”
26 But you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your Elohim and refused to go. 27 You complained in your tents and said, “Yahweh hates us! That’s why he brought us out of Egypt. He wanted to hand us over to the Amorites so that they could destroy us! 28 Where are we going anyway? Our own men have discouraged us by saying, ‘The people there are taller and stronger than we are. The cities are big with sky-high walls! We even saw the people of Anak there.’”
29 Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble. Don’t be afraid of them. 30 Yahweh your Elohim, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you as you saw him fight for you in Egypt 31 and in the desert.” There you saw how Yahweh your Elohim carried you, as parents carry their children. He carried you wherever you went until you came to this place.
32 In spite of this, you didn’t trust Yahweh your Elohim, 33 who went ahead of you to find places for you to camp. He appeared in a column of fire at night and in a column of smoke during the day to show you which route to take.
34 When Yahweh heard what you said, he was angry and took this oath: 35 “Not one of these evil people will ever see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors, 36 except Caleb, son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give the land that he set his feet on to him and his descendants, because he wholeheartedly followed Yahweh.”
37 Yahweh became angry with me because of you. He said, “You won’t go there either. 38 But your assistant Joshua, son of Nun, will go there. Encourage him, because he will help Israel take possession of the land. 39 Although you thought the little children would be captured in war, your children, who are still too young to know the difference between good and evil, will enter that land. I will give it to them, and they will take possession of it. 40 Turn around, go back into the desert, and follow the road that goes to the Red Sea.”
41 You responded, “We have sinned against Yahweh. We’ll go and fight, as Yahweh our Elohim commanded us to do.” Each of you armed yourself for war, thinking you could easily invade the mountain region.
42 But Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go and fight, because I won’t be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’”
43 I told you, but you wouldn’t listen. You defied Yahweh’s command and invaded the mountain region. 44 The Amorites who lived there came out and attacked you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They defeated you, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 When you came back, you cried to Yahweh, but Yahweh didn’t listen to you or hear you. 46 That’s why you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.
Psalm 81
For the choir director; on the gittith;[a] by Asaph.
1 Sing joyfully to Elohim, our strength.
Shout happily to the Elohim of Jacob.
2 Begin a psalm, and strike a tambourine.
Play lyres and harps with their pleasant music.
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,
on the day of the full moon,
on our festival days.
4 This is a law for Israel,
a legal decision from the Elohim of Jacob.
5 These are the instructions Elohim set in place for Joseph
when Joseph rose to power over Egypt.
I heard a message I did not understand:
6 “I removed the burden from his shoulder.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 When you were in trouble, you called out to me, and I rescued you.
I was hidden in thunder, but I answered you.
I tested your loyalty at the oasis of Meribah. Selah
8 Listen, my people, and I will warn you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!
9 Never keep any strange god among you.
Never worship a foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your Elohim, the one who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel wanted nothing to do with me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn ways
and follow their own advice.
13 If only my people would listen to me!
If only Israel would follow me!
14 I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my power against their foes.
15 Those who hate Yahweh would cringe in front of him,
and their time for punishment would last forever.
16 But I would feed Israel with the finest wheat
and satisfy them with honey from a rock.”
Psalm 82
A psalm by Asaph.
1 Elohim takes his place in his own assembly.
He pronounces judgment among the gods:
2 “How long are you going to judge unfairly?
How long are you going to side with wicked people?” Selah
3 Defend weak people and orphans.
Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
4 Rescue weak and needy people.
Help them escape the power of wicked people.
5 Wicked people do not know or understand anything.
As they walk around in the dark,
all the foundations of the earth shake.
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of Elyon.
7 You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O Elohim!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.
The Lord’s Word Will Be Hidden from Some but Revealed to Others
29 How horrible it will be for you Ariel, Ariel,[a]
the city where David camped.
Let year after year go by.
Let your annual festivals go on.
2 I will torment Ariel,
and the city will be filled with people grieving and mourning.
The city will become like Ariel.
3 I will set up war camps all around you.
I will blockade you with towers.
I will put up mounds of dirt around you.
4 When you have fallen, you will speak as you lie on the ground.
Your words will be muffled by the dust.
Your voice will come out of the ground like that of a ghost.
Your words will be whispered from the dust.
5 Your many enemies will be like fine dust.
Your many foes will be like husks blown by the wind.
All of this will happen suddenly, unexpectedly.
6 Yahweh Tsebaoth will punish you
with thunder, earthquakes, and loud noises,
with windstorms, rainstorms, and fire storms.
7 The armies from all the nations will go to war against Ariel.
They will go to war against it, blockade it, and torment it.
All of this will be like a dream, like a vision in the night.
8 They will be like hungry people who dream that they’re eating
and wake up to find they’re hungry.
They will be like thirsty people who dream that they’re drinking
and wake up to find they’re lightheaded and parched with thirst.
This is what will happen to the armies from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 If you confuse yourselves, you will be confused.
If you blind yourselves, you will be blinded.
You are drunk, but not from wine.
You stagger, but not from liquor.
10 Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.
He will shut your eyes. (Your eyes are the prophets.)
He will cover your heads. (Your heads are the seers.[b])
11 To you all these visions will be like words in a book that is closed and sealed. You give this book to someone who can read, saying, “Please read this.”
He answers, “I can’t read it. It’s sealed.”
12 Then you give the book to someone who can’t read, saying, “Please read this.”
He answers, “I can’t read.”
13 Adonay says,
“These people worship me with their mouths
and honor me with their lips.
But their hearts are far from me,
and their worship of me is based on rules made by humans.
14 That is why I am going to do something completely amazing
for these people once again.
The wisdom of their wise people will disappear.
The intelligence of their intelligent people will be hidden.”
15 How horrible it will be for those
who try to hide their plans from Yahweh.
Their deeds are done in the dark,
and they say, “No one can see us”
and “No one can recognize us.”
16 You turn things upside down!
Is the potter no better than his clay?
Can something that has been made
say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Can a piece of pottery
say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
17 In a very short time Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field will be considered a forest.
18 When that day comes, the deaf will hear the words written in the book.
The blind will see out of their gloom and darkness.
19 Humble people again will find joy in Yahweh.
The poorest of people will find joy in Qedosh Yisrael.
20 Tyrants will be gone.
Mockers will be finished.
All who look for ways to do wrong will come to an end:
21 those who make people sin with words,
those who lay traps for judges,
those who, without any reason, deny justice
to people who are in the right.
22 This is what Yahweh, who saved Abraham, says about the descendants of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed.
Jacob’s face will no longer turn pale.
23 When they see all their children,
the children I made with my hands,
they will acknowledge my name as holy.
They will treat the Holy One of Jacob as holy.
They will stand in terror of the Elohim of Israel.
24 Then those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding,
and those who complain will accept instruction.
Greeting
1 From the church leader.[a]
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love because we share the truth.
Encouragement for Gaius
2 Dear friend, I know that you are spiritually well. I pray that you’re doing well in every other way and that you’re healthy. 3 I was very happy when some believers came and told us that you are living according to the truth. 4 Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.
5 Dear friend, you are showing your faith in whatever you do for other believers, especially when they’re your guests. 6 These believers have told the congregation about your love. You will do well to support them on their trip in a way that proves you belong to God. 7 After all, they went on their trip to serve the one named Christ, and they didn’t accept any help from the people to whom they went. 8 We must support believers who go on trips like this so that we can work together with them in spreading the truth.
Criticism of Diotrephes
9 I wrote a letter to the congregation. But Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, won’t accept us. 10 For this reason, when I come I will bring up what he’s doing. He’s not satisfied with saying malicious things about us. He also refuses to accept the believers we send as guests. He even tries to stop others who want to accept them and attempts to throw those people out of the congregation.
Praise for Demetrius
11 Dear friend, never imitate evil, but imitate good. The person who does good is from God. The person who does evil has never seen God.
12 Everyone, including the truth itself, says good things about Demetrius. We also say good things about him, and you know that what we say is true.
Farewell
13 I have a lot to write to you. However, I would rather not write. 14 I hope to visit you very soon. Then we can talk things over personally.
15 Peace be with you! Your friends here send you their greetings. Greet each of our friends by name.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.