M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The customary mourning period is seven days, but as with Moses’ death later, they mourn for 30 days.
21 Meanwhile, the Canaanite king of Arad (which is in the Negev region) heard that the Israelites were approaching through Atharim, so he engaged them in battle. He even took some Israelites as prisoners of war.
Israelites (vowing to the Lord): 2 We pledge to You that if You help us win against these people, we will dedicate every last one of them to You and completely destroy their towns.
3 The Eternal One agreed to their proposal. He gave the Canaanites to the Israelites, and they promptly decimated the population and place. Consequently, the site is called Hormah, which means “destruction.”
4 And the Israelites set out again. They left Mount Hor and traveled by way of the Red Sea,[a] skirting Edom; but again, the difficult travel gave everyone a short temper. 5 They challenged both God and Moses.
Israelites: What were you thinking to bring us up out of Egypt and let us die out here in this desert land? There’s nothing to eat and no water either. We are sick and tired of living on what food we have.
6 As a divine response, the Eternal One sent venomous snakes[b] among them and the people were bitten. A number of Israelites were indeed killed by them. 7 They then appealed to Moses.
Israelites: We are so sorry! We know that it was wrong to speak against the Eternal and against you. Please talk to the Him, and get Him to take these awful snakes away.
So Moses appealed to God on behalf of the terrified and chastened congregation, 8 and He instructed Moses.
Eternal One: Make a venomous snake that looks like the ones tormenting the congregation, and put it on a pole. Everyone who gets bitten can simply look at your serpent and be healed.
9 So Moses took some bronze and cast a likeness of those vicious snakes to serve as an antidote for anyone who had been bitten. If they were to look on the bronze serpent, they would then live.
10-13 And the Israelites continued on their journey. They camped at Oboth; then at Iyeabarim (bordering Moab’s eastern border); then in the Wadi Zered; and then on the far side of the Arnon, which put them in the wilderness between the Moabite and Amorite territories. 14 This is what is described in The Book of the Eternal One’s Wars:
Waheb in Suphah[c]
and the river beds of Arnon;
15 The riverbeds that run right up to the settlement of Ar
and along the edge of Moab.
16 From there, they journeyed on to Beer, the place called “the well” where the Eternal One told Moses, “Gather the congregation, so I can give them water.” 17 At that time, they all sang the Song of the Well:
Israelites: Spring up, O well!
Sing, sing to the well,
18 The well our leaders dug for us,
our noblemen dug with their own scepters and staffs.
And they carried on from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19-20 and from there to Nahaliel, then Bamoth, and on to the valley that’s in the higher places of Moab, at Pisgah’s peak where one can look down on the Jeshimon Wilderness.
At that point, the Israelites came to the borderlands of another people and needed permission to pass through the land.
21 So Israel sent messengers to the Amorite king, Sihon.
Israel’s Message: 22 Please grant us permission to cross your country. We promise not to deviate and take anything from your seeded farmland or cultivated countryside. Nor will we drink from your wells. We will stick to the main road, the king’s highway, until we’re past your country’s far limits.
The Amorite King Sihon receives the same envoy as the Edomite king, and his response is the same: “You can’t pass through here.” Many of the other nations in this chronicle are aware of the divine provision of the Israelites because it is obvious that the survival of this enormous group in such an inhospitable environment is the work of God. With this understanding, the Amorite king nevertheless chooses to pick a fight with them. Not only did he say “no” to the Israelites crossing their territory, but he attacked. There is a very important principle here: don’t be on the opposite side of God in a fight.
23 Sihon would not allow them to pass. Instead, he roused all the Amorites and attacked the Israelites right there in the wilderness. They battled it out at Jahaz. 24 Israel met Sihon head-on and won the battle. They killed Sihon and took possession of the whole territory. That land goes from the Arnon to the Jabbok River and extends up to the Ammonites’ border, which is very well fortified.[d] 25-26 Israel took over all that area, claimed the Amorite cities and surrounding villages, and settled there. This included the capital city of Heshbon from where King Sihon ruled the Amorites. (It was Sihon who had challenged the late king of the Moabites and prevailed, making the territory of Moab all the way to the Arnon part of the Amorites’ lands.) 27 That’s where the singers get this taunting song:
Come gather at Heshbon, the city built up and strong—
the city of Sihon.
28 For a fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
swallowing the heights of Arnon.
29 How terrible for you, O Moab!
You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh!
Chemosh has made the Amorite, Sihon,
set your sons to rout
and take your daughters into slavery!
30 But we destroyed them, from Heshbon to Dibon,
and ravaged them to Nophah, even to Medeba.[e]
31 So it was that Israel then took this land from the Amorites and settled there. 32 They also captured the Amorite town of Jazer and took its villages and removed the Amorites living in the area.
33 Then they went northeast up the road to Bashan, where King Og and his people confronted the Israelites. When they clashed at Edrei, 34 the Eternal One encouraged Moses.
Eternal One: Don’t be afraid of him. I’ve already determined that you’ll defeat King Og. He, his people, and all his land shall be yours. You’ll treat him just as you did the Amorite king, Sihon, in Heshbon.
35 Sure enough, the Israelites defeated Og. They killed him, his sons, and everyone, for that matter. No one survived. So the Israelites took possession of Bashan.
Psalm 60
For the worship leader. A prayer[a] of David after his victory over the Arameans, Joab’s return, and the striking down of 12,000 Edomites in the valley of Salt. A song for instruction to the tune “A Lily Reminds Us.”[b]
This is a communal lament recalling David’s battles with Zobah and Naharaim from Aram (Syria) and Joab’s victory over the Edomites (2 Samuel 8).
1 God, You have turned away from us;
You have shattered us into a million tiny pieces;
You have boiled with anger.
Now put us back together, and refresh us with Your mercy.
2 You have made the earth shake; You have cracked it open effortlessly.
Heal the fissures in the earth, for it is unsteady.
3 You have caused Your people to suffer;
You have provided us with wine that makes us stagger.
4 You have unfurled a banner for those who revere You,
a signal to gather in safety out of the enemy’s reach.
[pause][c]
5 So that Your treasured ones may be saved,
rescue us with Your right hand, and answer our pleas!
6 God’s voice has been heard in His holy sanctuary:
“I will celebrate; I will allocate Shechem
and the Succoth Valley to My people.
7 Gilead belongs to Me, and so does Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet that protects My head;
Judah is the scepter through which I rule;
8 Moab is the washpot in which I rinse My feet.
I will throw My shoe over Edom in conquest;
prepare for My victory, Philistia. Cry out because of Me!”
9 But who will take me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me into Edom?
10 Have You not turned Your back on us, O God?
Will You stay away and not accompany our armies, O God?
11 Help us against our enemy; we need Your help!
It’s useless to trust in the hand of man for liberation.
12 Only through God can we be successful.
It is God alone who will defeat our enemies and bring us victory!
Psalm 61
For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by strings.
1 Hear me, O God, when I cry;
listen to my prayer.
2 You are the One I will call when pushed to the edge,
when my heart is faint.
Shoulder me to the rock above me.
3 For You are my protection,
an impenetrable fortress from my enemies.
4 Let me live in Your sanctuary forever;
let me find safety in the shadow of Your wings.
[pause][d]
5 You have heard the promises I made, O God.
You have laid upon me the legacy due to those who fear Your name.
6 Extend the king’s life, day after day;
increase his years for many generations.
7 May he be ever present before God,
attended and guarded by Your loyal love and truth.
8 So I will never stop singing Your praise;
as long as I live, I will fulfill my promise.
5 Hah! God has determined to let loose a punishing disaster like you’ve never seen.
Eternal One: How awful it will be for Assyria, the rod of My anger,
as they come crashing in on you; the club they bear is My fury.
6 I am sending Assyria against a nation that refuses to act rightly,
delegating it to humble a people who have frustrated
and infuriated Me by their blithe dismissal.
Assyria will snatch their wealth, seize their treasures,
and trample over them like mud in the streets.
7 But they will get cocky. Assyria has its own intentions for destruction,
to move against other people and other places to cut them down.
8-9 The victories make them think they’re invincible:
The king of Assyria says:
“Aren’t all of my princes destined to be kings?
Calno fell just like Carchemish.
I took Hamath as easily as Arpad. Samaria, too, fell like Damascus.
10 My powerful hand has reached out to subdue kingdom after kingdom
whose idols were more famous and respected than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
11 Now I will move in and take over Jerusalem and her idols
as easily as I did in Samaria.”
The Assyrians imagine that it is by their initiative and power that they gain control of these great cities and their populations. They are mistaken.
12 God will punish Assyria and its king for their blasphemous rants and arrogant self-satisfaction once my Lord has finished using them to accomplish His purposes here on Zion and in Jerusalem.
13 Assyrian King: I am so smart, so strong, so knowledgeable.
I am clearly superior to everyone else,
Moving easily into other countries and using them to suit my needs,
taking their treasures at will and humbling their citizens.
14 I just reach out and take the land and the riches I want—
from all over the earth—as easily as one gathers eggs from a nest.
They don’t flap their wings;
they don’t make a sound, while they look on helplessly.
15 But wow, are they ever mistaken! Assyria seems to think it has used God.
Can an ax take credit instead of the one who swings it?
Is a saw better than the one who uses it?
Only if a club or rod can move on its own.
16 So the Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
will afflict Assyria’s brawny soldiers with disease,
And they will waste away to nothing.
God will kindle a roaring fire beneath Assyria’s fleeting glory.
17-18 The light of God’s people will be like a fire that burns up
the thorns and briars in a single day.
The Holy One will become a flame and make an end of all of Assyria’s schemes.
God will consume the grandeur of his forest and fruitful fields;
He will consume both body and soul,
as when the sick grow weak and waste away.
19 So few trees will remain of his glorious forest
that a child could count them.
20 Then, the few that remain of Israel,
that handful of Jacob’s people who escape,
Will finally quit depending on the power of others
(others who abuse and take advantage of them)
And will instead lean on the Eternal One, the Holy One of Israel.
21 This remnant of Jacob’s people who endure and escape the great destruction
will come back to the Mighty One, to the embrace of God.
22 But don’t doubt—though the number of the people of Israel
are like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant of them will be rescued and return to survive.
For destruction is sure—the matter settled—God is absolutely right to do so.
23 For the Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
will carry out His destructive decree over the whole land.[a]
24 But as for the Holy City, Zion, the Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has this to say:
Eternal One: Listen, My people living in Zion. Don’t be afraid of Assyria even though that great and terrible nation batters and wounds you, presses its weight and might against you as Egypt once did. 25 Don’t worry. It won’t be long until My anger against you will be over, and I’ll turn it instead in Assyria’s direction.
26 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will lash Assyria with His whip; and Assyria will feel the crushing power of God’s judgment just as the Midianites did at the rock of Oreb,[b] just as the Egyptians did when Moses raised his staff and drowned Pharaoh’s army in the sea.[c] 27 When that time comes, all the weight of Assyria will be lifted off of your shoulders; its yoke will be removed from your neck, and the burden of their assault and demands will evaporate, and you’ll be free.
Isaiah describes the southern march of the Assyrian army. Village after village falls until the enemy is so close the clamor of its forces shakes the streets of Jerusalem.
28 Oh, sure, first you’ll feel that terrible force coming on you from the north
through Aiath and then Migron; at Michmash, they store their gear;
29 They take the mountain pass, and camp at Geba for the night;
closer they come as Ramah trembles;
Saul’s town Gibeah flees before them.
30 Cry out, Gallim! Heed the warning, Laishah!
Poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is on the run.
So, too, are the citizens of Gebim.
32 But today, they will stop their march at Nob
and shake their fists at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.
33 But wait, look! The Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will protect you;
He will cut the arrogant and self-serving down to size.
With terrifying power He will prune Assyria’s branches,
hack down the high and mighty, and humble all those who think they’re so great.
34 He will wield the ax and cut down the brushy undergrowth of the forest;
even the cedars of Lebanon fall before the Mighty One’s blow.
Worldly wisdom may promise the good life, but it leads to chaos and destruction every time. Ultimately true wisdom comes from God.
4 Where do you think your fighting and endless conflict come from? Don’t you think that they originate in the constant pursuit of gratification that rages inside each of you like an uncontrolled militia? 2 You crave something that you do not possess, so you murder to get it. You desire the things you cannot earn, so you sue others and fight for what you want. You do not have because you have chosen not to ask. 3 And when you do ask, you still do not get what you want because your motives are all wrong—because you continually focus on self-indulgence. 4 You are adulterers. Don’t you know that making friends with this corrupt world order is open aggression toward God? So anyone who aligns with this bogus world system is declaring war against the one true God. 5 Do you think it is empty rhetoric when the Scriptures say, “The spirit that lives in us is addicted to envy and jealousy”?[a] 6 You may think that the situation is hopeless, but God gives us more grace when we turn away from our own interests. That’s why Scripture says,
God opposes the proud,
but He pours out grace on the humble.[b]
7 So submit yourselves to the one true God and fight against the devil and his schemes. If you do, he will run away in failure. 8 Come close to the one true God, and He will draw close to you. Wash your hands; you have dirtied them in sin. Cleanse your heart, because your mind is split down the middle, your love for God on one side and selfish pursuits on the other.
Since the beginning, our loving Creator has been pursuing us, drawing us closer to Him. He invites us to move closer to Him so we can be fully His.
9 Now is the time to lament, to grieve, and to cry. Dissolve your laughter into sobbing, and exchange your joy for depression. 10 Lay yourself bare, facedown to the ground, in humility before the Lord; and He will lift your head so you can stand tall. 11 My brothers and sisters, do not assault each other with criticism. If you decide your job is to accuse and judge another believer, then you are a self-appointed critic and judge of the law; if so, then you are no longer a doer of the law and subject to its rule; you stand over it as a judge. 12 Know this—there is One who stands supreme as Judge and Lawgiver. He alone is able to save and to destroy, so who are you to step in and try to judge another?
13 Listen carefully, those of you who make your plans and say, “We are traveling to this city in the next few days. We’ll stay there for one year while our business explodes and revenue is up.” 14 The reality is you have no idea where your life will take you tomorrow. You are like a mist that appears one moment and then vanishes another. 15 It would be best to say, “If it is the Lord’s will and we live long enough, we hope to do this project or pursue that dream.” 16 But your current speech indicates an arrogance that does not acknowledge the One who controls the universe, and this kind of big talking is the epitome of evil. 17 So if you know the right way to live and ignore it, it is sin—plain and simple.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.