M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Israel Attacks the Midianites
31 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2 “Pay back the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After that you will die.”
3 So Moses said to the people, “Get some men ready for war. The Lord will use them to pay back the Midianites. 4 Send to war 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So 12,000 men got ready for war. There were 1,000 men from each tribe. 6 Moses sent those 1,000 men from each tribe to war. Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest was with them. He took with him the holy things and the trumpets. 7 They fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded Moses. And they killed every Midianite man. 8 Among those they killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They were the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.
9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children. They also took all their flocks, herds and goods. 10 Then they burned all the Midianite towns and camps. 11 They took all the people and animals and goods. 12 Then they went back to Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the Israelites. They brought back the captives, the animals and the goods. The camp was on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River. This was across from Jericho.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the people went outside the camp to meet them. 14 Moses was angry with the army officers who returned from war. He was angry with those commanders over 1,000 men and those over 100 men.
15 He asked them, “Why did you let the women live? 16 They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice. They turned the Israelites from the Lord at Peor. Then a terrible sickness struck the Lord’s people. 17 Kill all the Midianite boys. Kill all the Midianite women who have had physical relations. 18 But save the girls for yourselves who are virgins.
19 “All you men who killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days you and your captives must make yourselves clean. 20 You must clean all your clothes. And you must clean anything made of leather, wool or wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers who had gone to war. He said, “These are the teachings that the Lord gave to Moses. 22 Put any gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin or lead into the fire. 23 Put into the fire anything that will not burn. Then wash those things with the cleansing water. Then they will be clean. If something cannot stand the fire, wash it with the water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes. Then you will be clean. After that you may come into the camp.”
Dividing the Goods
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You, Eleazar the priest and the leaders should take a count. Count the goods, the men and the animals that were taken. 27 Then divide those things between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the people. 28 Tax the soldiers who went to war. The Lord’s share is 1 thing out of every 500 things. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats. 29 Take it from the soldiers’ half. And give it to Eleazar the priest. It is the Lord’s share. 30 And from the people’s half, take 1 thing out of every 50. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give that to the Levites. They take care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.” 31 So Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 There remained from what the soldiers had taken 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women. These were the women who were virgins. 36 The soldiers who went to war got 337,500 sheep. 37 They gave 675 of the sheep to the Lord. 38 They got 36,000 cattle. They gave 72 of them to the Lord. 39 They got 30,500 donkeys. They gave 61 of them to the Lord. 40 They got 16,000 people. And they gave 32 of them to the Lord. 41 Moses gave the Lord’s share to Eleazar the priest. This was what the Lord had commanded him.
42 Moses separated the people’s half from the soldiers’ half. 43 The people got 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the people’s half Moses took 1 thing out of every 50 for the Lord. This included the animals and the people. Then he gave them to the Levites. They took care of the Lord’s Holy Tent. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers of the army came to Moses. They were the commanders of 1,000 men and commanders of 100 men. 49 They told Moses, “We, your servants, have counted our soldiers under our command. Not one of them is missing. 50 So we have brought the Lord a gift. We have brought the gold things that each of us found: arm bands, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces. These are to remove our sins so we will belong to the Lord.”
51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold things from them. 52 The commanders of 1,000 men and the commanders of 100 men gave the Lord the gold. All of it together weighed about 420 pounds. 53 Each soldier had taken something for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of 1,000 men and the commanders of 100 men. Then they put it in the Meeting Tent. It was a memorial before the Lord for the people of Israel.
God the Judge
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A song of Asaph.
75 God, we thank you.
We thank you because you are near.
We tell about the wonderful things you do.
2 You say, “I set the time for trial.
I will judge fairly.
3 The earth with all its people may shake.
I am the one who holds it steady. Selah
4 I say to those who are proud, ‘Don’t brag.’
I say to the wicked, ‘Don’t show your power.
5 Don’t try to use your power against heaven.
Don’t be stubborn.’”
6 No one from the east or the west
or the desert can judge you.
7 God is the judge.
He judges one person as guilty, and another as innocent.
8 The Lord holds a cup of anger in his hand.
It is full of wine mixed with spices.
He pours it out even to the last drop.
And the wicked drink it all.
9 I will tell about this forever.
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 He will take all power away from the wicked.
But the power of good people will grow.
The God Who Always Wins
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of Asaph.
76 People in Judah know God.
People in Israel know he is great.
2 He lives in Jerusalem.
His home is on Mount Zion.
3 There God broke the flaming arrows,
the shields and swords of war. Selah
4 God, how wonderful you are!
You are more wonderful than the hills full of animals.
5 The brave soldiers were stripped
as they lay asleep in death.
Not one warrior
had the strength to stop it.
6 God of Jacob, when you spoke strongly,
horses and riders fell dead.
7 You should be feared.
Who can stand against you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you gave the decision.
And the earth was afraid and silent.
9 God, you stood up to judge
and to save the people of the earth who were not proud. Selah
10 People praise you for your anger against evil.
Those who live through your anger are stopped from doing more evil.
11 Keep your promises to the Lord your God.
From all around gifts should come to the God we worship.
12 God defeats great leaders.
The kings on earth fear him.
God’s Message to Lebanon
23 The message about Tyre:
You ships of Tarshish, cry!
The houses and harbor of Tyre are destroyed.
This news came to the ships
from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you who live on the island of Tyre.
You merchants of Sidon, be silent.
Seamen have made you rich.
3 They traveled the sea to bring grain from Egypt.
The men of Tyre brought grain from the Nile Valley
and sold it to other nations.
4 Sidon, be ashamed.
Strong city of the sea, be ashamed. The sea says:
“I have not felt the pain of giving birth.
I have not reared young men or women.”
5 Egypt will hear the news about Tyre.
And it will make Egypt hurt with sorrow.
6 You ships should return to Tarshish.
You people living near the sea should be sad.
7 Look at your once happy city!
Look at your old, old city!
People from that city have traveled
far away to live.
8 Who planned Tyre’s destruction?
Tyre made others rich.
Her merchants were treated like princes.
Her traders were greatly respected.
9 It was the Lord of heaven’s armies who planned this!
He decided to make these proud men unimportant.
He decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.
10 Go through your land,
Tarshish, like the Nile goes through Egypt.
There is no harbor for you now!
11 The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea.
He makes its kingdoms tremble.
He commands that Canaan’s
places of safety be destroyed.
12 The Lord said, “Sidon, you will not rejoice any longer.
You are destroyed.
Even if you cross the sea to Cyprus,
you will not find a place to rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians.
Babylonia is not a country now.
Assyria has made it a place for wild animals.
Assyria built towers to attack it.
The soldiers took all the treasures from its cities.
They turned it into ruins.
14 So be sad, you trading ships.
Your place of safety is destroyed.
15 At that time people will forget about Tyre for 70 years. That is the length of a king’s life. After 70 years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:
16 “Oh woman, you are forgotten.
Take your harp and walk through the city.
Play your harp well. Sing your song often.
Then people will remember you.”
17 After 70 years the Lord will deal with Tyre. Tyre will again have trade. It will be like a prostitute for all the nations of the earth. 18 The profits will be saved for the Lord. Tyre will not keep the money she earns. It will give them to the people who serve the Lord. So they will have plenty of food and nice clothes.
God Forgives Our Sins
1 We write you now about something that has always existed.
We have heard.
We have seen with our own eyes.
We have watched,
and we have touched with our hands.
We write to you about the Word[a] that gives life. 2 He who gives life was shown to us. We saw him, and we can give proof about it. And now we tell you that he has life that continues forever. The one who gives this life was with God the Father. God showed him to us. 3 Now we tell you what we have seen and heard because we want you to have fellowship with us. The fellowship we share together is with God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to you so that we may be full of joy.[b]
5 Here is the message we have heard from God and now tell to you: God is light,[c] and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 So if we say that we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, then we are liars. We do not follow the truth. 7 God is in the light. We should live in the light, too. If we live in the light, we share fellowship with each other. And when we live in the light, the blood of the death of Jesus, God’s Son, is making us clean from every sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. We can trust God. He does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrongs we have done. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, then we make God a liar. We do not accept God’s true teaching.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.