M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The People Rebel
14 Then all the congregation [a]lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept [b]that night. 2 All the sons of Israel (A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “(B)Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, (C)to fall by the sword? (D)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “(E)Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 (F)Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “(G)The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 (H)If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—(I)a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only (J)do not rebel against the Lord; and do not (K)fear the people of the land, for they will be our [c]prey. Their [d]protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 (L)But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then (M)the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
Moses Pleads for the People
11 (N)The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will (O)they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? 12 I will smite them with [e](P)pestilence and dispossess them, and I (Q)will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
13 (R)But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people, for (S)You, O Lord, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if You slay this people as one man, (T)then the nations who have heard of Your fame will [f]say, 16 ‘Because the Lord (U)could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have [g]declared, 18 ‘(V)The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but (W)He will by no means clear the guilty, (X)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children [h]to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 (Y)Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
The Lord Pardons and Rebukes
20 So the Lord said, “(Z)I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed, (AA)as I live, [i](AB)all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 22 Surely (AC)all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet (AD)have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 (AE)shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, (AF)because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, [j](AG)I will bring into the land [k]which he entered, and his [l]descendants shall take possession of it. 25 (AH)Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the [m]Red Sea.”
26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are (AI)grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are [n]making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘(AJ)As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as (AK)you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; 29 (AL)your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all (AM)your [o]numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30 Surely you shall not come into the land in which I [p]swore to settle you, (AN)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 (AO)Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 32 (AP)But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your sons shall be shepherds for (AQ)forty years in the wilderness, and they will [q]suffer for your [r]unfaithfulness, until your corpses [s]lie in the wilderness. 34 According to the (AR)number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your [t]guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. 35 (AS)I, the Lord, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.’”
36 (AT)As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, 37 even (AU)those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a (AV)plague before the Lord. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.
Israel Repulsed
39 When Moses spoke (AW)these words to all the sons of Israel, (AX)the people mourned greatly. 40 In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the [u]ridge of the hill country, saying, “(AY)Here we are; [v]we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised.” 41 But Moses said, “(AZ)Why then are you transgressing the [w]commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? 42 (BA)Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they went up heedlessly to the [x]ridge of the hill country; neither (BB)the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as (BC)Hormah.
God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth (B)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone forth.
3 May our God (E)come and not keep silence;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And it is very (G)tempestuous around Him.
4 He (H)summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My (I)godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. [b]Selah.
7 “(N)Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify [c]against you;
I am God, (O)your God.
8 “I do (P)not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 “I shall take no (Q)young bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 “For (R)every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 “I know every (S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is [d]Mine.
12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the (T)world is Mine, and [e]all it contains.
13 “Shall I eat the flesh of [f](U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 “Offer to God (V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And (W)pay your vows to the Most High;
15 (X)Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take (AA)My covenant in your mouth?
17 “For you (AB)hate discipline,
And you (AC)cast My words behind you.
18 “When you see a thief, you [g](AD)are pleased with him,
And [h]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 “You [i](AF)let your mouth loose in evil
And your (AG)tongue frames deceit.
20 “You sit and (AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 “These things you have done and (AI)I kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
God Will Remove the Leaders
3 For behold, the Lord [a]God of hosts (A)is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
Both [b]supply and support, the whole [c]supply of bread
And the whole [d]supply of water;
2 (B)The mighty man and the warrior,
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
3 The captain of fifty and the honorable man,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
4 And I will make mere (C)lads their princes,
And [e]capricious children will rule over them,
5 And the people will be (D)oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his (E)neighbor;
The youth will storm against the elder
And the inferior against the honorable.
6 When a man (F)lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler,
And these ruins will be under your [f]charge,”
7 He will [g]protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your [h](G)healer,
For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”
8 For (H)Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their [i](I)speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To (J)rebel against [j]His glorious presence.
9 [k]The expression of their faces bears witness against them,
And they display their sin like (K)Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to [l]them!
For they have (L)brought evil on themselves.
10 Say to the (M)righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For [m](N)what he deserves will be done to him.
12 O My people! Their oppressors [n]are (O)children,
And women rule over them.
O My people! (P)Those who guide you lead you astray
And confuse the direction of your paths.
God Will Judge
13 (Q)The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord (R)enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,
“It is you who have (S)devoured the vineyard;
The (T)plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15 “What do you mean by (U)crushing My people
And grinding the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord [o]God of hosts.
Judah’s Women Denounced
16 Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the (V)daughters of Zion are proud
And walk with [p]heads held high and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And tinkle the bangles on their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, (W)crescent ornaments, 19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 (X)headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, 21 [q]finger rings, (Y)nose rings, 22 festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, 23 hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils.
24 Now it will come about that instead of [r]sweet (Z)perfume there will be putrefaction;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of (AA)well-set hair, a (AB)plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a (AC)donning of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will (AD)fall by the sword
And your [s]mighty ones in battle.
26 And her [t](AE)gates will lament and mourn,
And deserted she will (AF)sit on the ground.
A Remnant Prepared
4 For seven women will take hold of (AG)one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; (AH)take away our reproach!”
2 In that day the (AI)Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the (AJ)fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the (AK)survivors of Israel. 3 It will come about that he who is (AL)left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called (AM)holy—everyone who is (AN)recorded for life in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the (AO)daughters of Zion and [u]purged the (AP)bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the (AQ)spirit of judgment and the (AR)spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies (AS)a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the (AT)glory will be a canopy. 6 There will be a (AU)shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and [v]protection from the storm and the rain.
The Triumphs of Faith
11 Now faith is the [a](A)assurance of things [b](B)hoped for, the [c]conviction of (C)things not seen. 2 For by it the (D)men of old [d](E)gained approval.
3 By faith we understand that the [e](F)worlds were prepared (G)by the word of God, so that what is seen (H)was not made out of things which are visible. 4 By faith (I)Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he (J)obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying [f]about his (K)gifts, and through [g]faith, though (L)he is dead, he still speaks. 5 By faith (M)Enoch was taken up so that he would not (N)see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who (O)comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 7 By faith (P)Noah, being (Q)warned by God about (R)things not yet seen, [h](S)in reverence (T)prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of (U)the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith (V)Abraham, when he was called, obeyed [i]by going out to a place which he was to (W)receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in (X)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, (Y)dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, (Z)fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for (AA)the city which has (AB)foundations, (AC)whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith even (AD)Sarah herself received [j]ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him (AE)faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and (AF)him as good as dead [k]at that, as many descendants (AG)as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 (AH)All these died in faith, (AI)without receiving the promises, but (AJ)having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and (AK)having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been [l]thinking of that country from which they went out, (AL)they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a (AM)heavenly one. Therefore (AN)God is not [m]ashamed to be (AO)called their God; for (AP)He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith (AQ)Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had (AR)received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “(AS)In Isaac your [n]descendants shall be called.” 19 [o]He considered that (AT)God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back [p]as a (AU)type. 20 By faith (AV)Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. 21 By faith (AW)Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and (AX)worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith (AY)Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.
23 By faith (AZ)Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the (BA)king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, (BB)when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to (BC)endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 (BD)considering the reproach of [q]Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the (BE)reward. 27 By faith he (BF)left Egypt, not (BG)fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as (BH)seeing Him who is unseen. 28 By faith he [r](BI)kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that (BJ)he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 29 By faith they (BK)passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were [s]drowned.
30 By faith (BL)the walls of Jericho fell down (BM)after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith (BN)Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies [t]in peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of (BO)Gideon, (BP)Barak, (BQ)Samson, (BR)Jephthah, of (BS)David and (BT)Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith (BU)conquered kingdoms, (BV)performed acts of righteousness, (BW)obtained promises, (BX)shut the mouths of lions, 34 (BY)quenched the power of fire, (BZ)escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, (CA)became mighty in war, (CB)put foreign armies to flight. 35 (CC)Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their [u]release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others [v]experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also (CD)chains and imprisonment. 37 They were (CE)stoned, they were (CF)sawn in two, [w]they were tempted, they were (CG)put to death with the sword; they went about (CH)in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, (CI)ill-treated 38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), (CJ)wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes [x]in the ground.
39 And all these, having [y](CK)gained approval through their faith, (CL)did not receive [z]what was promised, 40 because God had [aa]provided (CM)something better for us, so that (CN)apart from us they would not be made perfect.
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