M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
27 Then the daughters of Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil‘ad, the son of Machir, the son of M’nasheh, of the families of M’nasheh, the son of Yosef, approached. These were the names of his daughters: Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 2 They stood in front of Moshe, El‘azar the cohen, the leaders and the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 3 “Our father died in the desert. He wasn’t part of the group who assembled themselves to rebel against Adonai in Korach’s group, but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be eliminated from his family just because he didn’t have a son? Give us property to possess along with the brothers of our father.” 5 Moshe brought their cause before Adonai.
(iv) 6 Adonai answered Moshe, 7 “The daughters of Tz’lof’chad are right in what they say. You must give them property to be inherited along with that of their father’s brothers; have what their father would have inherited pass to them. 8 Moreover, say to the people of Isra’el, ‘If a man dies and does not have a son, you are to have his inheritance pass to his daughter. 9 If he doesn’t have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father doesn’t have brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and he will possess it. This will be the standard for judgment to be used by the people of Isra’el, as Adonai ordered Moshe.’”
12 Adonai said to Moshe, “Climb this mountain in the ‘Avarim Range, and look out at the land which I have given the people of Isra’el. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother was gathered; 14 because in the Tzin Desert, when the community was disputing with me, you rebelled against my order to uphold my holiness by means of the water, with them looking on.” (This was M’rivat-Kadesh Spring, in the Tzin Desert.)
15 Moshe said to Adonai, 16 “Let Adonai, God of the spirits of all human beings, appoint a man to be over the community, 17 to go out and come in ahead of them, to lead them out and bring them in, so that Adonai’s community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
18 Adonai said to Moshe, “Take Y’hoshua the son of Nun, a spiritual man, and lay your hand on him. 19 Put him in front of El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. 20 Delegate to him some of your authority, so that the entire community of Isra’el will obey him. 21 He is to present himself to El‘azar the cohen, who is to find out by means of the urim what Adonai’s will is for Y’hoshua’s decisions. Then, at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, both he and all the people of Isra’el with him, the whole community.”
22 Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him. He took Y’hoshua, put him before El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, 23 laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Adonai had said through Moshe.
70 (0) For the leader. By David. As a reminder:
2 (1) God, rescue me!
Adonai, hurry and help me!
3 (2) May those who seek my life
be disgraced and humiliated.
May those who take pleasure in doing me harm
be turned back and put to confusion.
4 (3) May those who jeer, “Aha! Aha!”
withdraw because of their shame.
5 (4) But may all those who seek you
be glad and take joy in you.
May those who love your salvation say always,
“God is great and glorious!”
6 (5) But I am poor and needy;
God, hurry for me.
You are my helper and rescuer;
Adonai, don’t delay!
71 In you, Adonai, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me;
and help me to escape.
Turn your ear toward me,
and deliver me.
3 Be for me a sheltering rock,
where I can always come.
You have determined to save me,
because you are my bedrock and stronghold.
4 My God, help me escape from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.
5 For you are my hope, Adonai Elohim,
in whom I have trusted since I was young.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
7 To many, I am an amazing example;
but you are strong protection for me.
8 My mouth is full of praise for you,
filled with your glory all day long.
9 Don’t reject me when I grow old;
when my strength fails, don’t abandon me.
10 For my enemies are talking about me,
those seeking my life are plotting together.
11 They say, “God has abandoned him;
go after him, and seize him,
because no one will save him.”
12 God, don’t distance yourself from me!
My God, hurry to help me!
13 May those who are opposed to me
be put to shame and ruin;
may those who seek to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I, I will always hope
and keep adding to your praise.
15 All day long my mouth will tell
of your righteous deeds and acts of salvation,
though their number is past my knowing.
16 I will come in the power of Adonai Elohim
and recall your righteousness, yours alone.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young,
and I still proclaim your wonderful works.
18 So now that I’m old, and my hair is gray,
don’t abandon me, God, till I have proclaimed
your strength to the next generation,
your power to all who will come,
19 your righteousness too, God,
which reaches to the heights.
God, you have done great things;
who is there like you?
20 You have made me see much trouble and hardship,
but you will revive me again
and bring me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will increase my honor;
turn and comfort me.
22 As for me, I will praise you with a lyre
for your faithfulness, my God.
I will sing praises to you with a lute,
Holy One of Isra’el.
23 My lips will shout for joy;
I will sing your praise, because you have redeemed me.
24 All day long my tongue
will speak of your righteousness.
For those who are seeking to harm me
will be put to shame and disgraced.
17 This is a prophecy about Dammesek:
“Dammesek will soon stop being a city;
it will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of ‘Aro‘er will be abandoned,
given over to flocks lying down undisturbed.
3 Efrayim will have no defenses,
Dammesek will cease to rule,
and Aram’s survivors will share the fate
of Isra’el’s finest sons,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
4 “When that day comes, Ya‘akov’s glory will wane,
and his full body grow thin,
5 as when the harvester collects the standing grain,
reaping the ears of grain with his arm;
yes, as when they glean the grain
in the Refa’im Valley.
6 Yet gleanings will be left,
as when beating an olive tree —
two or three olives at the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says Adonai, the God of Isra’el.
7 On that day, a person will heed his Maker
and turn his eyes toward the Holy One of Isra’el.
8 He will pay no heed to the altars
made with his own hands,
he will not turn toward what his fingers made,
the sacred poles and standing-stones for sun-worship.
9 When that day comes, his strong cities,
which others abandoned when Isra’el advanced,
will be like abandoned woods and forests;
they will be laid waste.
10 For you have forgotten the God who saved you,
failed to remember the Rock of your strength;
so you plant pagan-style gardens
and set out vine-cuttings for a foreign god.
11 Though you make them grow on the day you plant them,
and in the morning your seedlings flower;
the crop will vanish the day disease comes,
a day of incurable pain.
12 Oh, the terror-stricken uproar of many peoples,
roaring like the roar of the seas,
and the rushing about of nations,
rushing and surging like wild, wild waters!
13 Yes, the nations will roar like the mighty ocean,
but he will rebuke them, and far will they flee,
driven like chaff by a mountain wind,
like whirling dust in advance of the storm.
14 As evening falls, you can see terror;
before sunrise, they have ceased to be.
This is the lot of those who plunder us,
the fate of those who prey on us.
18 Woe to the land of whirring wings
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
2 they send ambassadors by sea,
across the water in papyrus-reed boats!
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and bronzed,
to a people feared far and near,
to a strong and conquering nation
whose land is divided by rivers!
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who live on the earth:
when a banner is hoisted on the mountains, look!
When the shofar is blown, listen!
4 For Adonai has said this to me:
“I will look on from my place and do nothing,
like heat shimmering in the sun,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the flowering is over,
and the bud becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the branches with pruning-knives,
lop off the twigs and take them away.
6 They will all be left to the vultures in the mountains
and to the wild animals in the fields;
the vultures will feed on them in summer,
and the wild animals of the fields in winter.
7 At that time tribute will be brought
to Adonai-Tzva’ot
from a nation tall and bronzed,
from a people feared far and near,
from a strong and conquering nation
whose land is divided by rivers,
to the place where the name of Adonai-Tzva’ot
lives, Mount Tziyon.
5 Therefore, I urge the congregation leaders among you, as a fellow-leader and witness to the Messiah’s sufferings, as well as a sharer in the glory to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is in your care, exercising oversight not out of constraint, but willingly, as God wants; and not out of a desire for dishonest gain, but with enthusiasm; 3 also not as machers domineering over those in your care, but as people who become examples to the flock. 4 Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive glory as your unfading crown.
5 Likewise, you who are less experienced, submit to leaders. Further, all of you should clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because
God opposes the arrogant,
but to the humble he gives grace.[a]
6 Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the right time he may lift you up. 7 Throw all your anxieties upon him, because he cares about you.
8 Stay sober, stay alert! Your enemy, the Adversary, stalks about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand against him, firm in your trust, knowing that your brothers throughout the world are going through the same kinds of suffering. 10 You will have to suffer only a little while; after that, God, who is full of grace, the one who called you to his eternal glory in union with the Messiah, will himself restore, establish and strengthen you and make you firm. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
12 Through Sila, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written you briefly, encouraging you and giving my witness that this is God’s true grace. Stand firm in it!
13 Your sister congregation in Bavel, chosen along with you, sends greetings to you, as does my son Mark. 14 Greet each other with a kiss of love.
“Shalom aleikhem!” to all who belong to the Messiah.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.