M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Miriam Is Punished
12 Moses had married a Cushite[a] woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it. 2 They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through[b] Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through[c] us?” The Lord heard what they said. (3 (A)Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “I want the three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence.” They went, 5 and the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron! Miriam!” The two of them stepped forward, 6 and the Lord said, “Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you,[d] I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 (B)It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel.[e] 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The Lord was angry with them; and so as he departed 10 and the cloud left the Tent, Miriam's skin was suddenly covered with a dreaded disease and turned as white as snow. When Aaron looked at her and saw that she was covered with the disease, 11 he said to Moses, “Please, sir, do not make us suffer this punishment for our foolish sin. 12 Don't let her become like something born dead with half its flesh eaten away.”
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, heal her!”
14 (C)The Lord answered, “If her father had spit in her face, she would have to bear her disgrace for seven days. So let her be shut out of the camp for a week, and after that she can be brought back in.” 15 Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought back in. 16 Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the wilderness of Paran.
The Spies(D)
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” 3-15 Moses obeyed and from the wilderness of Paran he sent out leaders, as follows:
| Tribe | Leader |
|---|---|
| Reuben | Shammua son of Zaccur |
| Simeon | Shaphat son of Hori |
| Judah | Caleb son of Jephunneh |
| Issachar | Igal son of Joseph |
| Ephraim | Hoshea son of Nun |
| Benjamin | Palti son of Raphu |
| Zebulun | Gaddiel son of Sodi |
| Manasseh | Gaddi son of Susi |
| Dan | Ammiel son of Gemalli |
| Asher | Sethur son of Michael |
| Naphtali | Nahbi son of Vophsi |
| Gad | Geuel son of Machi |
16 These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.
17 When Moses sent them out, he said to them, “Go north from here into the southern part of the land of Canaan and then on into the hill country. 18 Find out what kind of country it is, how many people live there, and how strong they are. 19 Find out whether the land is good or bad and whether the people live in open towns or in fortified cities. 20 Find out whether the soil is fertile and whether the land is wooded. And be sure to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.” (It was the season when grapes were beginning to ripen.)
21 So the men went north and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin in the south all the way to Rehob, near Hamath Pass in the north. 22 They went first into the southern part of the land and came to Hebron, where the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of a race of giants called the Anakim, lived. (Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to Eshcol Valley, and there they cut off a branch which had one bunch of grapes on it so heavy that it took two men to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back some pomegranates and figs. (24 That place was named Eshcol[f] Valley because of the bunch of grapes the Israelites cut off there.)
25 After exploring the land for forty days, the spies returned 26 to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had brought. 27 They told Moses, “We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there. 29 Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River.”
30 Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against[g] Moses, and said, “We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it.”
31 But the men who had gone with Caleb said, “No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are.” 32 So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall, 33 (E)and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them.”
The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches[a]
49 Hear this, everyone!
Listen, all people everywhere,
2 great and small alike,
rich and poor together.
3 My thoughts will be clear;
I will speak words of wisdom.
4 I will turn my attention to proverbs
and explain their meaning as I play the harp.
5 I am not afraid in times of danger
when I am surrounded by enemies,
6 by evil people who trust in their riches
and boast of their great wealth.
7 We can never redeem ourselves;
we cannot pay God the price for our lives,
8 because the payment for a human life is too great.
What we could pay would never be enough
9 to keep us from the grave,
to let us live forever.
10 (A)Anyone can see that even the wise die,
as well as the foolish and stupid.
They all leave their riches to their descendants.
11 Their graves[b] are their homes forever;
there they stay for all time,
though they once had lands of their own.
12 Our greatness cannot keep us from death;
we will still die like the animals.
13 See what happens to those who trust in themselves,
the fate of those[c] who are satisfied with their wealth—
14 they are doomed to die like sheep,
and Death will be their shepherd.
The righteous will triumph over them,
as their bodies quickly decay
in the world of the dead far from their homes.[d]
15 But God will rescue me;
he will save me from the power of death.
16 Don't be upset when someone becomes rich,
when his wealth grows even greater;
17 he cannot take it with him when he dies;
his wealth will not go with him to the grave.
18 Even if someone is satisfied with this life
and is praised because he is successful,
19 he will join all his ancestors in death,
where the darkness lasts forever.
20 Our greatness cannot keep us from death;
we will still die like the animals.
Everlasting Peace(A)
2 Here is the message which God gave to Isaiah son of Amoz about Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In days to come
the mountain where the Temple stands
will be the highest one of all,
towering above all the hills.
Many nations will come streaming to it,
3 and their people will say,
“Let us go up the hill of the Lord,[a]
to the Temple of Israel's God.
He will teach us what he wants us to do;
we will walk in the paths he has chosen.
For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem;
from Zion he speaks to his people.”
4 (B)He will settle disputes among great nations.
They will hammer their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nations will never again go to war,
never prepare for battle again.
5 Now, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light which the Lord gives us!
Arrogance Will Be Destroyed
6 O God, you have forsaken your people, the descendants of Jacob! The land is full of magic practices from the East and from Philistia.[b] The people follow foreign customs. 7 Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land is full of idols, and they worship objects that they have made with their own hands.
9 Everyone will be humiliated and disgraced. Do not forgive them, Lord!
10 (C)They will hide in caves in the rocky hills or dig holes in the ground to try to escape from the Lord's anger and to hide from his power and glory! 11 A day is coming when human pride will be ended and human arrogance destroyed. Then the Lord alone will be exalted. 12 On that day the Lord Almighty will humble everyone who is powerful, everyone who is proud and conceited. 13 He will destroy the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks in the land of Bashan. 14 He will level the high mountains and hills, 15 every high tower, and the walls of every fortress. 16 He will sink even the largest and most beautiful ships. 17-18 Human pride will be ended, and human arrogance will be destroyed. Idols will completely disappear, and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
19 People will hide in caves in the rocky hills or dig holes in the ground to try to escape from the Lord's anger and to hide from his power and glory, when he comes to shake the earth. 20 When that day comes, they will throw away the gold and silver idols they have made, and abandon them to the moles and the bats. 21 When the Lord comes to shake the earth, people will hide in holes and caves in the rocky hills to try to escape from his anger and to hide from his power and glory.
22 Put no more confidence in mortals. What are they worth?
10 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.
5 (A)For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God:
“You do not want sacrifices and offerings,
but you have prepared a body for me.
6 You are not pleased with animals burned whole on the altar
or with sacrifices to take away sins.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am,
to do your will, O God,
just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.’”
8 First he said, “You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.” He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, O God, to do your will.” So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. 10 Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.
11 (B)Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. 12 (C)Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then he sat down at the right side of God. 13 There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet. 14 With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect forever those who are purified from sin.
15 And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says,
16 (D)“This is the covenant that I will make with them
in the days to come, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts
and write them on their minds.”
17 (E)And then he says, “I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer.” 18 So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.
Let Us Come Near to God
19 We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. 20 He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is, through his own body. 21 We have a great priest in charge of the house of God. 22 (F)So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. 23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. 24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. 25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.
26 For there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us. 27 (G)Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgment and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God! 28 (H)Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without any mercy when judged guilty from the evidence of two or more witnesses. 29 (I)What, then, of those who despise the Son of God? who treat as a cheap thing the blood of God's covenant which purified them from sin? who insult the Spirit of grace? Just think how much worse is the punishment they will deserve! 30 (J)For we know who said, “I will take revenge, I will repay”; and who also said, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
32 Remember how it was with you in the past. In those days, after God's light had shone on you, you suffered many things, yet were not defeated by the struggle. 33 You were at times publicly insulted and mistreated, and at other times you were ready to join those who were being treated in this way. 34 You shared the sufferings of prisoners, and when all your belongings were seized, you endured your loss gladly, because you knew that you still possessed something much better, which would last forever. 35 Do not lose your courage, then, because it brings with it a great reward. 36 You need to be patient, in order to do the will of God and receive what he promises. 37 (K)For, as the scripture says,
“Just a little while longer,
and he who is coming will come;
he will not delay.
38 My righteous people, however, will believe and live;
but if any of them turns back,
I will not be pleased with them.”
39 We are not people who turn back and are lost. Instead, we have faith and are saved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.