M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Israel Arrives at the Borders of Canaan
34 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the Israelites a command. Tell them, ‘You are going to enter Canaan. The land will be given to you as your own. Here are the borders it must have.
3 “ ‘Your southern border will include part of the Desert of Zin. It will be along the border of Edom. Your southern border will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea. 4 It will cross south of Scorpion Pass. It will continue on to Zin. From there it will go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon. 5 There it will turn and join the Wadi of Egypt. It will come to an end at the Mediterranean Sea.
6 Your western border will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That will be your border on the west.
7 For your northern border, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor. 8 Continue it from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the border will go to Zedad. 9 It will continue to Ziphron. It will come to an end at Hazar Enan. That will be your border on the north.
10 For your eastern border, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah. Riblah is on the east side of Ain. From there the border will continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee. 12 Then the border will go down along the Jordan River. It will come to an end at the Dead Sea.
“ ‘That will be your land. And those will be its borders on every side.’ ”
13 Moses gave the Israelites a command. He said, “Cast lots when you divide up the land. Each tribe will have its own share. The Lord has ordered it to be given to the nine and a half tribes. 14 The families of the tribes of Reuben and Gad have already received their shares. The families of half of the tribe of Manasseh have also received their share. 15 Those two and a half tribes have received their shares east of the Jordan River. It flows near Jericho. Their land is toward the sunrise.”
16 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 17 “Here are the names of the men who will give out the shares of the land to your people. They are Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun. 18 Also appoint one leader from each of the nine and a half tribes. They will help you give out the land.
19 “Here are their names.
“Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, is from the tribe of Judah.
20 Shemuel, the son of Ammihud, is from the tribe of Simeon.
21 Elidad, the son of Kislon, is from the tribe of Benjamin.
22 Bukki, the son of Jogli, is the leader from the tribe of Dan.
23 Hanniel, the son of Ephod, is the leader from the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was the son of Joseph.
24 Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan, is the leader from the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was the son of Joseph.
25 Elizaphan, the son of Parnak, is the leader from the tribe of Zebulun.
26 Paltiel, the son of Azzan, is the leader from the tribe of Issachar.
27 Ahihud, the son of Shelomi, is the leader from the tribe of Asher.
28 Pedahel, the son of Ammihud, is the leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”
29 These are the men the Lord commanded to give out the shares of the land. They were commanded to give them to Israel in the land of Canaan.
38 But he was full of tender love.
He forgave their sins
and didn’t destroy his people.
Time after time he held back his anger.
He didn’t let all his burning anger blaze out.
39 He remembered that they were only human.
He remembered they were only a breath of air
that drifts by and doesn’t return.
40 How often they refused to obey him in the desert!
How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land!
41 Again and again they tested God.
They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry.
42 They didn’t remember his power.
They forgot the day he set them free
from those who had treated them so badly.
43 They forgot how he had shown them his signs in Egypt.
They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan.
44 He turned the river of Egypt into blood.
The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams.
45 He sent large numbers of flies that bit them.
He sent frogs that destroyed their land.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshoppers.
He gave their food to the locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail.
He destroyed their fig trees with sleet.
48 He killed their cattle with hail.
Their livestock were struck by lightning.
49 Because he was so angry with Egypt, he caused them to have great trouble.
In his great anger he sent destroying angels against them.
50 God prepared a path for his anger.
He didn’t spare their lives.
He gave them over to the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son of each family in Egypt.
He struck down the oldest son in every house in the land of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock.
He led them like sheep through the desert.
53 He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.
But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.
54 And so he brought his people to the border of his holy land.
He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power.
55 He drove out the nations to make room for his people.
He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children.
He gave the tribes of Israel a place to make their homes.
56 But they tested God.
They refused to obey the Most High God.
They didn’t keep his laws.
57 They were like their people who lived long ago.
They turned away from him and were not faithful.
They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight.
They couldn’t be trusted.
58 They made God angry by going to their high places.
They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.
59 When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.
He turned away from them completely.
60 He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.
He left the tent he had set up among his people.
61 He allowed the ark to be captured.
Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.
62 He let his people be killed by swords.
He was very angry with them.
63 Fire destroyed their young men.
Their young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests were killed by swords.
Their widows weren’t able to weep.
65 Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping.
He was like a warrior waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine.
66 He drove back his enemies.
He put them to shame that will last forever.
67 He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph.
He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah.
He chose Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens.
He built it to last forever, like the earth.
70 He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending sheep
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob.
He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people.
72 David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart.
With skilled hands he led them.
Another Song of Praise
26 At that time a song will be sung in the land of Judah. It will say,
“We have a strong city.
God’s saving power surrounds it
like walls and towers.
2 Open its gates
so that those who do what is right can enter.
They are the people who remain faithful to God.
3 Lord, you will give perfect peace
to those who commit themselves to be faithful to you.
That’s because they trust in you.
4 “Trust in the Lord forever.
The Lord himself is the Rock.
The Lord will keep us safe forever.
5 He brings down those who are proud.
He pulls down cities that have high walls.
They fall down flat on the ground.
He throws them down to the dust.
6 The feet of those who were treated badly stomp on them.
Those who were poor walk all over them.”
7 The path of godly people is level.
You are the God who does what is right.
You make their way smooth.
8 Lord, we are living the way your laws command us to live.
We are waiting for you to act.
We want your honor and fame to be known.
9 My heart longs for you at night.
My spirit longs for you in the morning.
You will come and judge the earth.
Then the people of the world will learn to do what is right.
10 Sometimes grace is shown to sinful people.
But they still don’t learn to do what is right.
They keep on doing evil even in a land where others are honest and fair.
They don’t have any respect for the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, you have raised your hand high to punish them.
But they don’t even see it.
Let them see how much you love your people.
Then they will be put to shame.
Let the fire you are saving for your enemies burn them up.
12 Lord, you give us peace.
You are the one who has done everything we’ve accomplished.
13 Lord, you are our God.
Other masters besides you have ruled over us.
But your name is the only one we honor.
14 Those other masters are now dead.
They will never live again.
Their spirits won’t rise from the dead.
You punished them and destroyed them.
You wiped out all memory of them.
15 Lord, you have made our nation grow.
You have made it larger.
You have gained glory for yourself.
You have increased the size of our land.
16 Lord, when your people were suffering, they came to you.
When you punished them,
they could barely whisper a prayer.
17 Lord, you made us like a woman who is about to have a baby.
She groans and cries out in pain.
18 We were pregnant and groaned with pain.
But nothing was born.
We didn’t bring your saving power to the earth.
And the people of the world have not come to life.
19 Lord, your people who have died will live again.
Their bodies will rise from the dead.
Let those who lie in the grave
wake up and shout for joy.
You give life, Lord, like the dew of the morning.
So the earth will give up its dead people.
20 My people, go into your houses.
Shut the doors behind you.
Hide yourselves for a little while.
Do it until the Lord’s anger is over.
21 He is coming from the place where he lives.
He will punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The blood spilled on the earth will be brought out into the open.
The ground will no longer hide those who have been killed.
Jesus Came as a Human Being
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they belong to God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 Here is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit agreeing that Jesus Christ came in a human body belongs to God. 3 But every spirit that doesn’t agree with this does not belong to God. You have heard that the spirit of the great enemy of Christ is coming. Even now it is already in the world.
4 Dear children, you belong to God. You have not accepted the teachings of the false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the one who is in the world. 5 False prophets belong to the world. So they speak from the world’s point of view. And the world listens to them. 6 We belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. But those who don’t belong to God don’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lies.
We Love Because God Loved Us
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him. 10 Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us. His love is made complete in us.
13 Here’s how we know that we are joined to him and he to us. He has given us his Holy Spirit. 14 The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We have seen it and are witnesses to it. 15 God lives in anyone who agrees that Jesus is the Son of God. This kind of person remains joined to God. 16 So we know that God loves us. We depend on it.
God is love. Anyone who leads a life of love is joined to God. And God is joined to them. 17 Suppose love is fulfilled among us. Then we can be without fear on the day God judges the world. Love is fulfilled among us when in this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives away fear. That’s because fear has to do with being punished. The one who fears does not have perfect love.
19 We love because he loved us first. 20 Suppose someone claims to love God but hates a brother or sister. Then they are a liar. They don’t love their brother or sister, whom they have seen. So they can’t love God, whom they haven’t seen. 21 Here is the command God has given us. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
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