M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Zelophehad's daughters
27 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, came to speak to Moses. Hepher was the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. So Zelophehad belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. His daughters were called Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 2 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the people were standing at the front of the Tent of Meeting. Zelophehad's daughters said to them, 3 ‘Our father died in the desert. But he was not in Korah's group of men who came together to speak against the Lord. He died in the desert because of his own sin, and he did not have any sons. 4 We are his daughters, so please give us some land along with our father's male relatives. Then people will not forget our father's family name.’
5 Moses asked the Lord about this. 6 The Lord said to Moses, 7 ‘What the daughters of Zelophehad said is right. You must give to them some of the land that their father's family will receive. Give to them the land that their father would have received.
8 Tell the Israelites this: “Sometimes a man only has daughters. When he dies, his daughters must receive what belongs to their family. 9 If he does not have any sons or daughters, you must give his family's land to his brothers. 10 If he does not have any brothers, you must give his land to his father's brothers. 11 Sometimes the man's father may have no brothers. If that happens, you must give his land to another person in his family. This is a rule for all the people. The Lord gave this command to Moses.” ’
Joshua is the new leader
12 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go up to the top of the Abiram mountains. From there, look at the land that I am giving to the Israelites. 13 After that, you will die, just as your brother Aaron also died. 14 In the Zin desert, when the people turned against me, you did not obey my command. That happened when you hit the rock to get water at Meribah Kadesh. You did not show the people that I was holy, so now you will not go into the land of Canaan.’
15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 ‘You are the Lord, the God of the spirits of all people. Please choose another man to be leader over all the people. 17 He will lead them when they go out to fight, and he will bring them back safely. Then the Lord's people will not be like sheep who have no shepherd.’
18 The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Choose Joshua, the son of Nun. My Spirit is in him to help him lead well. Put your hand on him to take your place as leader. 19 He must stand in front of Eleazar the priest and in front of all the Israelites. Let all the people see that he is the new leader that I have chosen. 20 Tell the people that they must obey him, because he now has your authority. 21 Eleazar the priest will use the Urim to find out from me what Joshua should do. Then Joshua can tell the people when to go out to fight, and he can lead them safely back again. He will tell all the Israelite people what they must do.’
22 Moses did as the Lord told him. He brought Joshua to stand in front of Eleazar the priest and all the people. 23 He put his hands on Joshua to show that he would be the new leader. Moses gave his authority to Joshua, as the Lord had told him to do.
David wrote this song for the music leader, to ask God to help him.
A prayer for help[a]
70 God, please save me!
Lord, come quickly to help me!
2 Stop the people who want to kill me,
so that they become ashamed and confused.
Chase the people who want to hurt me,
so that they run away in shame.
3 When people laugh at me,
make them ashamed for what they have done.
4 God, may those who want to know you be very happy.
Everyone who loves you because you have saved them
should never stop saying, ‘Praise God.’
5 But I am poor and weak, God.
Please hurry to give me help.
You are the one who helps me
and who saves me.
Lord, come quickly to help me!
A song for old age
71 Lord, I have come to you to keep me safe.
Never let me become ashamed.
2 You always do what is right,
so please rescue me!
Listen to me, and come to save me!
3 Be a rock where I can hide.
Be a strong place where I can be safe.
You are my high rock and my strong, safe place.
4 My God, save me from the power of wicked people,
so that those cruel people cannot catch me.
5 My Lord, I trust you to help me.
I have trusted in you, Lord,
since I was young.
6 Since I was born,
you have been there to help me.
You have taken care of me
since my mother gave birth to me.
So I will always praise you!
7 When people see me,
they see trouble!
But you are a strong place to keep me safe.
8 I can never stop praising you!
All the time, I speak about your glory!
9 Do not chase me away when I am old.
When I am no longer strong,
do not turn away from me.[b]
10 For my enemies say things against me.
They think of ways that they can kill me.
11 They say, ‘God has turned away from him.
Run after him and catch him,
for nobody will rescue him.’
12 God, do not stay far away from me.
My God, come quickly to help me!
13 Make my enemies become completely ashamed.
They speak against me and they want to hurt me.
So let them fall with great shame!
14 But as for me, I will always wait for you to help me.
I will continue to praise you more and more.
15 I will tell people that you always do what is right.
I will always speak about your power to save people.
But you have done more than I will ever know about!
16 I will tell about the great things that you have done,
Almighty Lord.
I will tell everyone that you are righteous.
You, only you, are righteous.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young.
I still tell people about the great things that you have done.
18 And even when I am old and my hair is grey,
do not turn away from me, God.
I need to tell the people still to be born
about your great strength.
My descendants need to know about your power.
19 Your justice reaches beyond the sky above!
You have done such great things, God.
There is nobody like you!
20 You have caused me to have many bad troubles.
But you will make my life strong again.
You will lift me back out
from this deep hole under the earth.[c]
21 You will make me great again,
so that people respect me.
You will turn back to me,
so that I feel strong.
22 I will pick up my harp
and I will sing to thank you.
I will praise you, my God,
because you do what you promise.
I will sing to praise you, the Holy One of Israel,
with the music of a lyre.[d]
23 I will shout aloud with joy,
as I praise you with music!
I will sing songs to praise you,
because you have rescued me.
24 I will talk about your justice all the time.
The people who want to hurt me
will become confused and ashamed.
A message about Damascus
17 This is a message about Damascus:
‘Look! Damascus is no longer a city! It has become a heap of stones.
2 Nobody lives in the cities of Aroer. Sheep and goats can safely go there to eat. They can lie down there and nobody will chase them away. 3 There will be no strong cities in Ephraim.[a] No king will rule in Damascus. The few people who remain in Syria are no longer great, like Israel's people!’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
4 ‘At that time, Israel will no longer be great. It will be like a rich, fat person who becomes weak and hungry.
5 Israel will be like a field of grain in Rephaim valley after the harvest. The workers have cut down the crops. They have picked up the grain from the ground. 6 There will be only a few people that remain in Israel. They will be like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. Perhaps two or three olives are still there on the highest branches. Four or five olives may remain on the other branches.’
That is what the Lord God of Israel says.
7 At that time, people will turn back to their Maker. They will trust the Holy God of Israel to help them.
8 They will no longer trust their idols to help them. They made altars for themselves, where they worshipped their gods. They worshipped Asherah at special poles. They made altars where they burned incense. But they will not do those things any more.
9 At that time, Israel's strong cities will be empty. People will run away from those cities, as the Amorites ran away from the hills when the Israelites attacked them. Israel's strong cities will become heaps of stones. 10 That will happen because you have forgotten the God who rescues you. He is the Rock where you can safely hide, but you have turned away from him.[b]
Instead, you plant the best plants and vines in your gardens. You buy them from foreign countries for a lot of money. 11 You take care of them so that they grow quickly. They may even make flowers on the same morning that you plant them! But you will never have any fruit from them. You will only get trouble and pain that will never go away.
12 It will be very bad for the armies of other nations! They are making a noise like the sea in a storm! They are as loud as powerful waves! 13 But it does not matter how much noise they make. Those people may roar like powerful waves, but the Lord will shout at them to stop. Then they will run far away! They will run like the wind as it blows chaff across the hills. It will be like a strong storm that carries away dead weeds!
14 Look at what happens! In the evening the enemy attacks, and we are very afraid. But by the morning they have disappeared! That is what happens to people who attack us. Anyone who tries to take away our valuable things for themselves will fail.
A message about Cush[c]
18 It will be very bad for that land beyond the rivers of Cush. Their ships seem to have wings and fly everywhere! 2 They send messages over the sea in boats that they make from reeds. Their boats sail quickly on the water.
Go now! Take a message quickly.
Go to a country where the people are tall
and their skin has no hair.
Everyone is afraid of that nation's people.
They are a powerful and strong nation.
Many rivers cross their land.
3 All you people who live in the world, listen to this! You will see a battle flag on the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet.
4 This is what the Lord said to me: ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will work quietly, like the heat that comes from the sun. I will be as quiet as the mist that comes at harvest time.’[d]
5 Then, when the grapes on the vines are nearly ready for harvest, the Lord will cut them off! He will use his knife to cut off the branches.[e]
6 Like those branches, the dead bodies of the soldiers will lie in the fields. The wild animals and the vultures will come to eat them. The vultures will feed on them all through the summer. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.
7 At that time, the Lord Almighty will receive gifts from the people of that land. Many rivers cross that land. Its people are tall and their skin has no hair. Everyone is afraid of them. Their nation is strong and powerful. Those people will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That is the place that the Lord Almighty has chosen for people to worship him there.
Peter writes to leaders and young men
5 Now I want to say something to you who are leaders of the groups of believers. Like you, I am also a leader. I myself saw how people caused Christ to have great pain so that he died. One day people will see how great he really is. Then I will be among those people who join with him in heaven. So I say this to you who are leaders: 2 Watch over the group of believers that God has given to you. Be like a shepherd that takes care of his sheep. Lead them well because you want to do it. Do not do it just because you have to do it. Do it in the way that God wants for you. Do not be a leader because you want to receive money for yourself. Instead, do it because you want to help people.
3 God has given you a group of believers to take care of them. Do not try to rule over them with power. Instead, show them how to live in a good way, so that they can copy you. 4 Then our master, Christ, will give you a beautiful crown when he appears. That is a great gift that will never become old or less beautiful. He is the great Shepherd who takes care of us.[a]
5 I want to say the same thing to you who are young men. You must respect the authority of the leaders. All of you who are believers must respect one another. Do not think that you are more important than other people. The Bible says:
‘God is against proud people.
But he is kind to humble people.’[b]
6 Remember that God is strong and powerful. So be humble in front of him. Then he will lift you up to a good place at the right time. 7 If you have any kind of trouble in your mind, give it to God. God has promised to take care of you.[c]
8 Think seriously about how you live. Watch carefully for danger. Remember that the Devil is your enemy. He wants to hurt you. He walks about like a hungry lion. He is looking for someone to kill and then eat them! 9 But you must be strong to fight against him. Trust God completely. Remember this: Believers all over the world are having the same kind of trouble. 10 Yes, you will have trouble like this for a short time. But after that, God will make everything right. He is completely kind and he will always help you. Because you belong to Christ, God has chosen you to live with him in heaven for ever. You will join him in that beautiful place. Then God will make you well again. He will make you strong in your spirits. You will be able to stand strongly. 11 Yes, God rules with power for ever! Amen! This is true!
Peter finishes his letter
12 Silas has helped me to write this short letter to you. I know that he continues to trust Christ well.[d] I have written to you because I want you to be strong. I have told you how God is kind to us and he helps us. This is God's true message to you. So continue to believe it and be strong.
13 The believers here in Babylon say ‘hello’ to you.[e] God has chosen them as his people, together with you. Mark, who is like my son, also says ‘hello’ to you. 14 When you meet, kiss each other as Christian brothers and sisters.
I pray for all of you who belong to Christ. I pray that God will give you peace in your minds.
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