M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 23
Balaam’s First Oracle.[a] 1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven oxen and seven rams for me.” 2 Balak did what Balaam had told him to do. Then Balak and Balaam offered a young bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your offerings, and I will go off a bit. Perhaps the Lord will come to visit me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” He then went off to a high place.
4 God visited Balaam. He said, “I have prepared seven altars and I have offered a young bull and a ram upon each altar.” 5 The Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and proclaim this.”
6 So he returned to him and found him standing by his sacrifice, he and the leaders of Moab. 7 Then he proclaimed his oracle:
“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains saying,
‘Come, and curse Jacob,
come and denounce Israel!’
8 How shall I curse those whom God has not cursed,
how shall I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?[b]
9 From the top of the rocks I see him,
from the hills I behold him.
Behold, a people dwelling alone,
not counted among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
let my end be like his.”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have bountifully blessed them.” 12 But he answered, “Must I not proclaim what the Lord has put into my mouth?”
13 Balaam’s Second Oracle. Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place. There you will be able to see them, but only their outposts; you will not see all of them. You can curse them for me from there.”
14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and he offered a young bull and a ram on each altar. 15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your offering, and I will meet the Lord over there.” 16 The Lord visited Balaam and put a word in his mouth saying, “Go back again to Balak and proclaim this.”
17 He returned to him. He was standing by his offering, he and the leaders of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” 18 He took up his oracle and said,
“Arise, Balak, and hear;
listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 God is not human, that he should lie,[c]
or the son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act,
does he promise and then not fulfill it?
20 Behold, I have received a blessing;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery is seen in Israel.
The Lord, their God, is with them;
the shout of a king is among them.
22 God has brought them out of Egypt;
they are as strong as a wild ox.
23 There is truly no sorcery against Jacob,
nor any divination against Israel.
Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What God has done!’
24 Behold, a people rises up like a lioness,
like a young lion it lifts itself up.
It will not lie down again until it eats the prey
and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Then do not either curse them in any way or bless them in any way!” 26 But Balaam answered Balak saying, “Did I not tell you: ‘All that the Lord says I must do!’ ”
27 Balaam’s Third Oracle. Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will allow you to curse them for me here.” 28 Then Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, to a place that faced Jeshimon. 29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did what Balaam had told him to do, and he offered a young bull and a ram on each of the altars.
Psalm 64[a]
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 Listen, O God, to my cry of lament;
from the dreaded enemy preserve my life.
3 Protect me from the council of the wicked,
from the band of those who do evil.
4 They sharpen their tongues[c] like swords,
and they shoot forth their venomous words like arrows,
5 while they attack the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and without fear.
6 [d]They agree on their evil plan,
and they resolve to lay snares,
saying, “Who will see us?”
7 They plot evil schemes
and devise shrewd plots;
the thoughts of their hearts[e] are hidden.
8 [f]However, God will shoot his arrows at them,[g]
and they will suddenly be struck down.
9 Their own tongues will bring them down,
and all who see them will wag their heads.[h]
10 [i]Then everyone will be in awe,
as they proclaim God’s mighty deeds
and contemplate what he has done.[j]
11 The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will praise him.
Psalm 65[k]
Thanksgiving for Divine Blessings
1 For the director.[l] A psalm of David. A song.
2 It is fitting to offer praise to you,[m]
O God, in Zion.
To you our vows must be fulfilled,
3 for you answer our prayers.
To you all flesh must come,[n]
4 burdened by its sinful deeds.
Too heavy for us are our sins,
and only you can blot them out.[o]
5 Blessed[p] is the one whom you choose
and invite to dwell in your courts.
We will be filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
6 Through your awesome deeds[q] of righteousness,
you respond to us, O God, our Savior;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the far-off islands.
7 Clothed in your great power,
you hold the mountains in place.[r]
8 You quiet the roaring of the seas,
the turbulence of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.[s]
9 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
are awestruck by your wonders.[t]
You call forth songs of joy
from sunrise and sunset.
10 You care for the earth and water it,
making it most fertile.
The streams of God[u] are filled with water
to provide grain for its people.
Thus, you prepare the earth for growth:
11 you water its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its yield.[v]
12 You crown the year with your bounty,[w]
and your tracks dispense fertility.
13 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
and the hills are covered with rejoicing.
14 The meadows are clothed with flocks,
and the valleys are decked out with grain;
in their joy they shout and sing together.[x]
Oracles among the Pagan Nations[a]
Chapter 13
Babylon.[b] 1 An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, received in a vision:
2 Upon a barren hill raise a banner;
cry aloud to them.
Wave your hand to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my consecrated soldiers
and summoned my dedicated warriors
to carry out my vengeance.
4 Listen to the great tumult on the mountains
like that of an immense gathering.
Listen to the uproar of the kingdoms,
of nations assembling;
the Lord of hosts is mustering
an army for battle.
5 From a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the instruments of his wrath
are coming to destroy the entire earth.
6 Cry out in anguish,
for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like devastation from the Almighty.
7 Therefore, every hand will hang limp
and every man’s courage will fade;
8 they will all be panic-stricken,
overcome with pangs and agony
and writhing like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
with their faces aflame with fear.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,
a cruel day of wrath and burning anger,
to reduce the land to a desert waste
and to destroy all the sinners within it.
10 The stars of the heavens and their constellations
will no longer give forth their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not provide its light.
11 By taking this course
I will punish the world for its wickedness
and those who are evil for their iniquity.
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant
and humble the insolence of tyrants.
12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,
far more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore, I am determined to make the heavens tremble
and the earth will be shaken to its very foundations,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts,
on the day of his blazing anger.
14 Like a gazelle fleeing from a hunter,
or like a flock of sheep that no one gathers,
everyone will return to his own people
and flee to his native land.
15 Any who are found will be slaughtered;
without exception they will be slain by the sword.
16 Their infants will be smashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
and their wives will be ravished.
17 Behold, I am stirring up against them the Medes
who have no interest in silver
and are not tempted by gold.[c]
18 With their bows they will slaughter the young men,
and they will show no pity for young children.
19 And Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms,
the splendor and jewel of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when they were overthrown by God.
20 It will never be inhabited;
no future generations will ever reside there.
No Arab will ever again pitch his tent there,
nor will shepherds rest their flocks in that land.
21 However, wild animals of the desert will dwell there,
and its houses will be filled with jackals.
There ostriches will reside,
and there wild goats[d] will dance.
22 Hyenas will howl in her castles
and jackals in her luxurious palaces.
Her time draws near,
and her days will not be prolonged.
Chapter 1
Salutation[a]
To the Faithful in the Dispersion. 1 Peter,[b] an apostle of Jesus Christ, to all the exiles of the Dispersion who are now living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 chosen[c] in the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification by the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: may grace and peace be yours in abundance.
The Privileges and Responsibilities of Salvation[d]
The Song of the New Life.[e] 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you 5 who because of your faith are being protected by God’s power until the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.[f]
6 This is a reason for you to rejoice, even if now for a little while you must suffer trials of many kinds. 7 Thus, the genuine quality of your faith—which is more valuable than gold that is perishable even if it has been tested by fire—may be proved worthy of praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with a joy that is indescribable and glorious. 9 For you are achieving the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of your souls.
10 This salvation was the subject of intense scrutiny and investigation by the Prophets[g] who spoke about the grace that you were to receive. 11 They were searching out the time and the circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ[h] within them was pointing when it testified in advance to the sufferings that Christ would endure and the glories that would then follow.
12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you when they spoke of the things that have now been announced to you through those who proclaimed the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even the angels long to catch a glimpse of such things.
13 Convictions for Living.[i] Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Be calm and fix your hopes completely on the grace that you will be granted at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 Like obedient children, do not yield to the evil desires you had in your former ignorance. 15 He who called you is holy. Therefore, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. 16 For Scripture says, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
17 If you address as Father the one who judges everyone impartially on the basis of each person’s deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile here. 18 For you are aware that you were ransomed from your futile way of life inherited from your ancestors not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ,[j] a lamb without blemish or defect.
20 He was chosen before the foundation of the world, but in this final age he has been revealed for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and your hope are fixed on God.
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to truth so that you have genuine love for your brethren, love one another intensely with all your heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.[k] 24 For:
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, and the flower fades,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.
It is this word that has been proclaimed to you.
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