M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Complaints about Hardship
11 Now the people began complaining openly before[a] the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, his anger burned,(A) and fire(B) from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was named Taberah,[b](C) because the Lord’s fire had blazed among them.
Complaints about Food
4 The riffraff[c] among them(D) had a strong craving(E) for other food. The Israelites wept again and said, “Who will feed us meat? 5 We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt,(F) along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone;[d] there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”
7 The manna(G) resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of bdellium.[e] 8 The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it on a pair of grinding stones or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.(H)
10 Moses heard the people, family after family, weeping at the entrance of their tents. The Lord was very angry;(I) Moses was also provoked.[f] 11 So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have you brought such trouble on your servant? Why are you angry with me,[g] and why do you burden me with all these people?(J) 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so you should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing mother carries a baby,’(K) to the land that you swore to give their ancestors?(L) 13 Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are weeping to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. 15 If you are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now(M) if I have found favor with you, and(N) don’t let me see my misery[h] anymore.”
Seventy Elders Anointed
16 The Lord answered Moses, “Bring me seventy men from Israel known to you as elders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting and have them stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them.(O) They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.(P)
18 “Tell the people: Consecrate yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you wept in the Lord’s hearing, ‘Who will feed us meat? We were better off in Egypt.’ The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and wept before him, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” (Q)
21 But Moses replied, “I’m in the middle of a people with six hundred thousand foot soldiers,(R) yet you say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ 22 If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” (S)
23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm weak?[i](T) Now you will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.”
24 Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He brought seventy men from the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him.(U) He took some of the Spirit who was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied,(V) but they never did it again. 26 Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad; the Spirit rested on them—they were among those listed, but had not gone out to the tent—and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Joshua son of Nun, assistant to Moses since his youth,[j] responded, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
29 But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account?(W) If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place his Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.
Quail in the Camp
31 A wind sent by the Lord(X) came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them all around the camp. They were flying three feet[k] off[l] the ground for about a day’s journey in every direction.(Y) 32 The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered sixty bushels[m]—and they spread them out all around the camp.[n](Z)
33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned(AA) against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague.(AB) 34 So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah,[o] because there they buried the people who had craved the meat.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth[p](AC) and remained there.
Psalm 48
Zion Exalted
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 The Lord is great and highly praised
in the city of our God.(A)
His holy mountain, 2 rising splendidly,
is the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion—the summit of Zaphon—
is the city of the great King.(B)
3 God is known as a stronghold
in its citadels.(C)
4 Look! The kings assembled;
they advanced together.(D)
5 They looked and froze with fear;
they fled in terror.(E)
6 Trembling seized them there,
agony like that of a woman in labor,(F)
7 as you wrecked the ships of Tarshish
with the east wind.(G)
8 Just as we heard, so we have seen
in the city of the Lord of Armies,
in the city of our God;
God will establish it forever.(H)Selah
1 The vision(A) concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah(B) son of Amoz saw during the reigns[a] of Kings Uzziah,(C) Jotham,(D) Ahaz,(E) and Hezekiah(F) of Judah.(G)
Judah on Trial
2 Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth,(H)
for the Lord has spoken:
“I have raised children[b] and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.(I)
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
but Israel does not know;
my people do not understand.”(J)
4 Oh sinful nation,
people weighed down with iniquity,(K)
brood of evildoers,(L)
depraved children!
They have abandoned(M) the Lord;
they have despised(N) the Holy One of Israel;(O)
they have turned their backs on him.
5 Why do you want more beatings?
Why do you keep on rebelling?
The whole head is hurt,
and the whole heart is sick.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,(P)
no spot is uninjured(Q)—
wounds, welts, and festering sores
not cleansed, bandaged,
or soothed with oil.
7 Your land is desolate,
your cities burned down;(R)
foreigners devour your fields
right in front of you—
a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.
8 Daughter Zion(S) is abandoned
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of Armies(T)
had not left us a few survivors,(U)
we would be like Sodom,
we would resemble Gomorrah.(V)
10 Hear the word of the Lord,(W)
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!(X)
11 “What are all your sacrifices to me?”
asks the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I have no desire for the blood of bulls,
lambs, or male goats.(Y)
12 When you come to appear before me,
who requires this from you—
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing useless offerings.(Z)
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons and Sabbaths,(AA)
and the calling of solemn assemblies(AB)—
I cannot stand iniquity(AC) with a festival.
14 I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,(AD)
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.(AE)
Your hands are covered with blood.(AF)
Purification of Jerusalem
16 “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.(AG)
Remove your evil deeds from my sight.
Stop doing evil.(AH)
17 Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.(AI)
Correct the oppressor.[c]
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.
18 “Come, let’s settle this,”(AJ)
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;(AK)
though they are crimson red,
they will be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land.(AL)
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”(AM)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(AN)
21 The faithful town—
what an adulteress[d] she has become!
She was once full of justice.
Righteousness once dwelt in her,
but now, murderers!
22 Your silver has become dross to be discarded,
your beer[e] is diluted with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels,
friends of thieves.(AO)
They all love graft
and chase after bribes.(AP)
They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,
and the widow’s case never comes before them.(AQ)
24 Therefore the Lord God of Armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will get even with my foes;
I will take revenge against my enemies.(AR)
25 I will turn my hand against you(AS)
and will burn away your dross completely;[f]
I will remove all your impurities.(AT)
26 I will restore your judges(AU) to what they were at first,
and your advisers to what they were at the start.
Afterward you will be called the Righteous City,(AV)
a Faithful Town.”
27 Zion will be redeemed by justice,
those who repent, by righteousness.(AW)
28 At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken,
and those who abandon the Lord will perish.
29 Indeed, they[g] will be ashamed of the sacred trees
you desired,(AX)
and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines
you have chosen.(AY)
30 For you will become like an oak
whose leaves are withered,
and like a garden without water.(AZ)
31 The strong one will become tinder,
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,(BA)
with no one to extinguish the flames.(BB)
Old Covenant Ministry
9 Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.(A) 3 Behind the second curtain was a tent called the most holy place.(B) 4 It had the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.(C) 5 The cherubim of glory were above the ark overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.(D)
6 With these things prepared like this, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry.(E) 7 But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.(F) 8 The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.(G) 9 This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.(H) 10 They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of the new order.(I)
New Covenant Ministry
11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.[a] In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation(J)), 12 he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.(K) 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,(L) 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit(M) offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our[b] consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?(N)
15 Therefore, he is the mediator(O) of a new covenant,[c](P) so that those who are called might receive the promise(Q) of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.(R) 16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living. 18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. 19 For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats,[d] along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,(S) 20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.[e](T) 21 In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.(U) 22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.(V)
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.(W) 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model[f] of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.(X) 25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another.(Y) 26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages,(Z) for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.(AA) 27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment(AB)— 28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,(AC) will appear a second time,(AD) not to bear sin, but[g] to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.(AE)
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