M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Second Census and the Plan to Enter the Promised Land
Chapter 26
The Second Census. 1 After the plague, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar, the priest, saying, 2 “Take a census of the whole assembly of the people of Israel by their father’s house, those twenty years and older, all of those who are fit to bear arms.”
3 Moses and Eleazar spoke with them in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of those twenty years and older, as the Lord commanded Moses, of all the people of Israel who came forth from the land of Egypt.”
5 Reuben was the firstborn son of Israel. The sons of Reuben were: Hanoch, of the Hanochite clan; Pallu, of the Palluite clan; 6 Hezron, of the Hezronite clan; Carmi, of the Carmite clan. 7 These were the clans of Reuben. Those counted numbered forty-three thousand, seven hundred and thirty.
8 The son of Pallu was Eliab. 9 The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were the community leaders who rebelled against Moses and Aaron. They were companions of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them together with Korah, whose followers died when fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; they served as a warning. 11 The descendants of Korah, however, did not die out.
12 The sons of Simeon by their clans were: Nemuel, of the Nemuelite clan; Jamin, of the Jaminite clan; Jachin, of the Jachinite clan; 13 Zerah, of the Zerahite clan; and Shaul, of the Shaulite clan. 14 These were the clans of Simeon. There were twenty-two thousand, two hundred of them.[a]
15 The sons of Gad by their clans were: Zephon, of the Zephonite clan; Haggi, of the Haggite clan; Shuni, of the Shunite clan; 16 Ozni, of the Oznite clan; Eri, of the Erite clan; 17 Arod, of the Arodite clan; and Areli, of the Arelite clan. 18 These were the clans of Gad. There were forty thousand, five hundred of them.
19 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). 20 The sons of Judah by their clans were: Shelah, of the Shelahite clan; Perez,[b] of the Perezite clan; and Zerah, of the Zerahite clan. 21 The sons of Perez were: Hezron, of the Hezronite clan; and Hamul, of the Hamulite clan. 22 These were the clans of Judah. There were seventy-six thousand, five hundred of them.
23 The sons of Issachar by their clans were: Tola, of the Tolaite clan; Puvah, of the Puvahite clan; 24 Jashub, of the Jashubite clan; and Shimron, of the Shimronite clan. 25 These were the clans of Issachar. There were sixty-four thousand, three hundred of them.
26 The sons of Zebulun by their clans were: Sered, of the Seredite clan; Elon, of the Elonite clan; and Jahleel, of the Jahleelite clan. 27 These were the clans of Zebulun. There were sixty thousand, five hundred of them.
28 The sons of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were: 29 the sons of Manasseh: Machir, of the Machirite clan (Machir was the father of Gilead); Gilead, of the Gileadites. 30 These were the sons of Gilead: Iezer, of the Iezerite clan; Helek, of the Helekite clan; 31 Asriel, of the Asrielite clan; Shechem, of the Shechemite clan; 32 Shemida, of the Shemidaite clan; and Hepher, of the Hepherite clan. 33 (Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, had no sons, only daughters. The name of the daughters of Zelophehad were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.) 34 These were the clans of Manasseh. There were fifty-two thousand, five hundred of them.
35 The sons of Ephraim by their clans were: Shuthelah, of the Shuthelahite clan; Becher, of the Becherite clan; and Tahan, of the Tahanite clan. 36 These were the sons of Shuthelah: Eran, of the Eranite clan. 37 These were the clans of Ephraim. There were thirty-two thousand, five hundred of them. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.
38 The sons of Benjamin by their clans were: Bela, of the Belaite clan; Ashbel, of the Ashbelite clan; Ahiram, of the Ahiramite clan; 39 Shupham, of the Shuphamite clan; and Hupham, of the Huphamite clan. 40 The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: Ard, of the Ardite clan; and Naaman, of the Naamite clan. 41 These were the clans of Benjamin. There were forty-five thousand, six hundred of them.
42 The sons of Dan by their clans were: Shuham, of the Shuhamite clan. These were the clans of Dan. 43 The only clan was of the Shuhamites. There were sixty-four thousand, four hundred of them.
44 The sons of Asher by their clans were: Imnah, of the Imnite clan; Ishvi, of the Ishvite clan; and Beriah, of the Beriite clan. 45 The descendants of Beriah were: Heber, of the Heberite clan and Malchiel, of the Malchielite clan. 46 Asher also had a daughter named Serah.[c] 47 These were the clans of Asher. There were fifty-three thousand, four hundred of them.
48 The sons of Naphtali by their clans were: Jahzeel, of the Jahzeelite clan; Guni, of the Gunite clan; 49 Jezer, of the Jezerite clan; and Shillem, of the Shillemite clan. 50 These were the clans of Naphtali. There were forty-five thousand, four hundred of them.
51 The total number of people of Israel was six hundred and one thousand, seven hundred and thirty.
52 Land Allotments. The Lord then spoke to Moses, saying, 53 “The land is to be allotted unto these as an inheritance based on the number of those inscribed. 54 To the larger group you will give a larger inheritance, to the smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance. Every clan will be given an inheritance according to its size. 55 But the land will be divided by lot; they will inherit it according to the number of the names of their ancestral tribes. 56 Each inheritance will be distributed by lot, to the larger and smaller groups.”
57 The Levite Census.[d]These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: Gershon, of the Gershonite clan; Kohath, of the Kohathite clan; and Merari, of the Merarite clan.[e] 58 These were also Levite clans: the Libnite clan; the Hebronite clan; the Mahlite clan; the Mushite clan; and the Kohathite clan.
Kohath became the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam to Amram. 60 To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unclean fire before the Lord. 62 The total number of all the males one month old and older was twenty-three thousand. They were not counted among the people of Israel because no inheritance was given to them among the people of Israel.
63 These were the figures of the people of Israel counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. 64 There was not a single person among the people of Israel whom Moses and Aaron had counted in the Sinai Desert. 65 The Lord said of them: “They will surely die in the wilderness.” There were none of them left except for Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.
Psalm 69[a]
Cry of Anguish in Distress
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” Of David.
2 [c]Save me, my God,
for the waters have risen to my neck.
3 I am sinking in muddy depths
and can find no foothold.
I have fallen into deep waters,
and the floods[d] overwhelm me.
4 I am exhausted from crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes have been worn out
searching for my God.
5 More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me for no reason.[e]
Many are those who seek to destroy me,
and they are treacherous.
How can I restore
what I have not stolen?
6 O God, you know how foolish I am;
my guilty deeds are not hidden from you.[f]
7 Do not allow those who hope in you
to be put to shame because of me,
O Lord of hosts.
Do not let those who seek you
suffer disgrace because of me,
O God of Israel.
8 It is for your sake that I endure reproach
and that shame covers my face.
9 I have become alienated from my brothers,[g]
a stranger to my mother’s sons.
10 Zeal for your house[h] consumes me,
and the insults directed at you fall on me.
11 When I mortified myself with fasting,
I exposed myself to scorn.
12 When I clothed myself in sackcloth,
I became a laughingstock.
13 Those who sit at the gate taunt me,
and drunkards make me the target of their ditties.
14 But I lift up my prayer to you, O Lord,
in the time of your favor.[i]
In your great kindness, O God,
respond to me with your certain help.
15 Draw me out of the mire,
and do not let me plunge any deeper.
Deliver me from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
16 Do not let the flood waters sweep over me,
or the depths swallow me up,
or the pit close its jaws around me.
17 Answer me, O Lord, for your kindness[j] is wonderful;
in your great compassion turn toward me.
18 Do not hide your face[k] from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in distress.
19 Draw near to me and redeem me;
deliver me from my enemies.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
all my oppressors are in your sight.
21 Insults have so broken my heart
that I am near the end of my strength.
I looked for compassion, but in vain,
for some consolers, but I found none.[l]
22 They put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar[m] to drink.
23 [n]Let their table become a trap for them;
let their well-being become a snare.[o]
24 Let their eyes dim so that they cannot see,
and let their limbs tremble constantly.
25 Vent your wrath on them,
and let your burning anger take hold of them.
26 Let their camp be left desolate;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.[p]
27 For they pursue the one you struck down
and tell of the pain of the one you hurt.
28 Charge them with crime after crime;
let them not share in your salvation.
29 Blot them out from the book of the living;[q]
do not number them among the upright.
30 But I am filled with pain and suffering;
may your saving power, O God, raise me up.
31 [r]I will praise the name of God with a song
and glorify him with a hymn of thanksgiving.
32 This will gratify the Lord more than an ox
or a young bull with horns and hoofs:[s]
33 “Let the poor[t] see this and rejoice;
let those who seek God take heart.
34 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not turn his back on captives.
35 Let the heavens and the earth offer praise,
the seas and everything that moves therein.”
36 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
His people will live there and possess it;
37 his servants’ children will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell there.
Chapter 16
1 [a]Send forth lambs to the ruler of the land,
from Sela across the desert
to the mount of daughter Zion.
2 Like fluttering birds,
like scattered nestlings,
are the women of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.
3 Offer your counsel,
grant us your justice.
At high noon
let your shadow be like night.
Hide those who are outcasts
and do not betray the fugitives.
4 Allow the outcasts of Moab
to settle among you,
and be their refuge from the destroyer.
When the oppression has ceased
and the devastation is at an end,
and the marauders who have trampled the land
have finally departed,
5 a throne established in faithful love
will be established in the tent of David,
and on it will sit in fidelity
a judge who offers fair judgment
and is prompt to ensure justice.
6 We have heard about the pride of Moab,
about how truly intense that pride is,
with its arrogance, its pride, and its insolence,
as well as its boasts which have little basis.
7 Therefore, let Moab wail,
every one of its inhabitants.
In their grief they will long
for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8 The vineyards of Heshbon have withered,
the vines of Sibmah.
The lords of the nations
have destroyed the choicest vines
that once reached as far as Jazer
and spread out toward the desert,
and whose shoots with their spreading branches
spread across the sea.
9 Therefore, I weep with Jazer
for the vines of Sibmah.
I drench you with tears,
Heshbon and Elealeh,
for the cries of battle have fallen
over your harvest and vintage.
10 Joy and gladness
have been taken away from the fields.
In the vineyards no songs are sung,
no joyful shouts are raised.
No one treads out wine in the wine-presses
no cheers of happiness are heard.
11 That is the reason why
my heart throbs like a harp for Moab
and my soul for Kir-hareseth.
12 When the Moabites approach
and exhaust themselves on the high places,
they will flock to their sanctuaries to pray,
but it will avail them nothing.
13 This was the word that the Lord spoke about Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord says: In three years, as a hired worker reckons them, the glory of Moab will be regarded with contempt, despite its vast multitude. The remnant that survive will be few in number and very feeble.
Chapter 4
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you should arm yourselves also with the same intention. For anyone who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin 2 and for the remainder of life on earth must be ruled not by human passions but by the will of God.
3 You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, pursuing a life of debauchery, licentiousness, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and sacrilegious idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you no longer join them in a life of dissipation, and they revile you as a result. 5 However, they will have to render an account to him who stands ready to judge[a] the living and the dead.
6 And this is the reason why the gospel was preached even to the dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh like men, they might enjoy the life of God in the spirit.
Qualities of a Christian Community Waiting for Christ.[b] 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore, lead disciplined lives and be watchful in prayer. 8 Above all, maintain the fervor of your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the varied graces of God, use whatever gift each one of you has received to serve one another.
11 Whoever speaks should do so as one who is speaking the very words of God. Whoever serves should do so with the strength that God provides. In all things, let God be glorified through Jesus Christ, for to him belong all glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
12 Courage and Joy in Suffering.[c] Beloved, do not be surprised that you are being tested by a fiery ordeal,[d] as though it were something extraordinary. 13 But rejoice insofar as you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, so that your joy will be without limit when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, consider yourself blessed, for upon you rests the Spirit of glory[e] and of God. 15 [f]However, let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, or any other kind of criminal, or as one who meddles in another person’s business. 16 Let it be because you are a Christian,[g] not considering it a disgrace, but glorifying God because you bear this name.
17 The time has come for the judgment of the household of God to begin. If it begins with us, how will it end for those who refuse to obey the gospel of God?
18 And:
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the godless and those who are sinners?”
19 And so, those who suffer in accordance with God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.
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