M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Property Zelophehad’s Daughters Will Receive
36 The heads of the families of Gilead came to Moses. Gilead was the son of Makir. The family heads were from the tribe of Manasseh. So they were in the family line of Joseph. They spoke to Moses in front of the leaders of the families of Israel. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded you to give shares of the land to the Israelites. He told you to cast lots when you do it. At that time the Lord ordered you to give our brother Zelophehad’s share to his daughters. 3 Suppose they marry men from other tribes in Israel. Then their share will be taken away from our family’s land. It will be added to the land of the tribe they marry into. So a part of the share given to us will be taken away. 4 The Year of Jubilee for the Israelites will come. Then their share will be added to the land of the tribe they marry into. Their land will be taken away from the share given to our tribe.”
5 Then the Lord gave a command to Moses. He told Moses to give an order to the Israelites. Moses said, “What the tribe in the family line of Joseph is saying is right. 6 Here is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters. They can marry anyone they want to. But they have to marry someone in their own family’s tribe. 7 Property in Israel must not pass from one tribe to another. Everyone in Israel must keep their family’s share of their tribe’s land. 8 Suppose a daughter in any tribe of Israel receives land from her parents. Then she must marry someone in her father’s family and tribe. In that way, every family’s share will remain in its family line in Israel. 9 Property can’t pass from one tribe to another. Each tribe of Israel must keep the land it receives.”
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did just as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah. All of them married their cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married men in the family line of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. So the land they received remained in their father’s family and tribe.
13 These are the commands and rules the Lord gave through Moses. He gave them to the Israelites on the plains of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph to the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.”
80 Shepherd of Israel, hear us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the cherubim.
Show your glory
2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Call your strength into action.
Come and save us.
3 God, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
4 Lord God, you rule over all.
How long will you be angry?
Will you be angry with your people even when they pray to you?
5 You have given us tears as our food.
You have made us drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have let our neighbors mock us.
Our enemies laugh at us.
7 God who rules over all, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
8 You brought Israel out of Egypt.
Israel was like a vine.
After you drove the nations out of Canaan,
you planted the vine in their land.
9 You prepared the ground for it.
It took root and spread out over the whole land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade.
The shade of its branches covered the mighty cedar trees.
11 Your vine sent its branches out all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
They reached as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you broken down the walls around your vine?
Now all who pass by it can pick its grapes.
13 Wild pigs from the forest destroy it.
Insects from the fields feed on it.
14 God who rules over all, return to us!
Look down from heaven and see us!
Watch over your vine.
15 Guard the root you have planted with your powerful right hand.
Take care of the branch you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine has been cut down and burned in the fire.
You have been angry with us, and we are dying.
17 May you honor the people at your right hand.
May you honor the nation you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we won’t turn away from you.
Give us new life. We will worship you.
19 Lord God who rules over all, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
The Lord Will Judge the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah
28 How terrible it will be for the city of Samaria!
It sits on a hill like a wreath of flowers.
The leaders of Ephraim are drunk.
They take pride in their city.
It sits above a valley that has rich soil.
How terrible it will be for the glorious beauty of that fading flower!
2 The Lord will bring the strong and powerful king of Assyria against Samaria.
The Lord will throw that city down to the ground with great force.
It will be like a hailstorm.
It will be like a wind that destroys everything.
It will be like a driving rain and a flooding storm.
3 That city is like a wreath.
The leaders of Ephraim are drunk.
They take pride in their city.
But its enemies will walk all over it.
4 It sits on a hill above a rich valley.
The city is like a wreath of flowers whose glorious beauty is fading away.
But it will become like figs that are ripe before harvest.
As soon as people see them,
they pick them and swallow them.
5 At that time the Lord who rules over all
will be like a glorious crown.
He will be like a beautiful wreath
for those of his people who will be left alive.
6 He will help those
who are fair when they judge.
He will give strength to those
who turn back their enemies at the city gate.
7 Israel’s leaders are drunk from wine.
They can’t walk straight.
They are drunk from beer.
They are unsteady on their feet.
Priests and prophets drink beer.
They can’t walk straight.
They are mixed up from drinking too much wine.
They drink too much beer.
They are unsteady on their feet.
The prophets see visions but don’t really understand them.
The priests aren’t able to make good decisions.
8 They throw up. All the tables are covered
with the mess they’ve made.
There isn’t one spot on the tables
that isn’t smelly and dirty.
9 The Lord’s people are making fun of him. They say,
“Who does he think he’s trying to teach?
Who does he think he’s explaining his message to?
Is it to children who do not need their mother’s milk anymore?
Is it to those who have just been taken from her breast?
10 Here is how he teaches.
Do this and do that.
There is a rule for this and a rule for that.
Learn a little here and learn a little there.”
11 All right then, these people won’t listen to me.
So God will speak to them.
He will speak by using people who speak unfamiliar languages.
He will speak by using the mouths of strangers.
12 He said to his people,
“I am offering you a resting place.
Let those who are tired rest.”
He continued, “I am offering you a place of peace and quiet.”
But they wouldn’t listen.
13 So then, here is what the Lord’s message will become to them.
Do this and do that.
There is a rule for this and a rule for that.
Learn a little here and learn a little there.
So when they try to go forward,
they’ll fall back and be wounded.
They’ll be trapped and captured.
14 Listen to the Lord’s message,
you who make fun of the truth.
Listen, you who rule over these people in Jerusalem.
15 You brag, “We have entered into a covenant with the place of the dead.
We have made an agreement with the grave.
When a terrible plague comes to punish us,
it can’t touch us.
That’s because we depend on lies to keep us safe.
We hide behind what isn’t true.”
16 So the Lord and King speaks. He says,
“Look! I am laying a stone in Zion.
It is a stone that has been tested.
It is the most important stone for a firm foundation.
The one who depends on that stone will never be shaken.
17 I will use a measuring line to prove that you have not been fair.
I will use a plumb line to prove that you have not done what is right.
Hail will sweep away the lies you depend on to keep you safe.
Water will flood your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be called off.
The agreement you made with the place of the dead will not stand.
When the terrible plague comes to punish you,
you will be struck down by it.
19 As often as it comes, it will carry you away.
Morning after morning, day and night,
it will come to punish you.”
If you understand this message,
it will bring you absolute terror.
20 You will be like someone whose bed is too short to lie down on.
You will be like those whose blankets are too small to wrap themselves in.
21 The Lord will rise up to judge, just as he did at Mount Perazim.
He will get up to act, just as he did in the Valley of Gibeon.
He’ll do his work, but it will be strange work.
He’ll carry out his task, but it will be an unexpected one.
22 Now stop making fun of me.
If you don’t, your chains will become heavier.
The Lord who rules over all has spoken to me.
The Lord has told me he has ordered that the whole land be destroyed.
23 Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention to what I’m saying.
24 When a farmer plows in order to plant, does he plow without stopping?
Does he keep on breaking up the soil and making the field level?
25 When he’s made the surface even, doesn’t he plant caraway seeds?
Doesn’t he scatter cumin seeds?
Doesn’t he plant wheat in its proper place?
Doesn’t he plant barley where it belongs?
Doesn’t he plant spelt along the edge of the field?
26 His God directs him.
He teaches him the right way to do his work.
27 Caraway seeds are beaten out with a rod.
They aren’t separated out under a threshing sled.
Cumin seeds are beaten out with a stick.
The wheel of a cart isn’t rolled over them.
28 Grain must be ground up to make bread.
A farmer separates it out.
But he doesn’t go on doing it forever.
He drives the wheels of a threshing cart over it.
But he doesn’t use horses to grind the grain.
29 All these insights come from the Lord who rules over all.
His advice is wonderful. His wisdom is glorious.
1 I, the elder, am writing this letter.
I am sending it to the lady chosen by God and to her children. I love all of you because of the truth. I’m not the only one who loves you. So does everyone who knows the truth. 2 I love you because of the truth that is alive in us. This truth will be with us forever.
3 God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will give you grace, mercy and peace. These blessings will be with us because we love the truth.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children living by the truth. That’s just what the Father commanded us to do. 5 Dear lady, I’m not writing you a new command. I’m writing a command we’ve had from the beginning. I’m asking that we love one another. 6 The way we show our love is to obey God’s commands. He commands you to lead a life of love. That’s what you have heard from the beginning.
7 I say this because many people have tried to fool others. These people have gone out into the world. They don’t agree that Jesus Christ came in a human body. People like this try to trick others. These people are like the great enemy of Christ. 8 Watch out that you don’t lose what we have worked for. Make sure that you get your full reward. 9 Suppose someone thinks they know more than we do. So they don’t follow Christ’s teaching. Then that person doesn’t belong to God. But whoever follows Christ’s teaching belongs to the Father and the Son. 10 Suppose someone comes to you and doesn’t teach these truths. Then don’t take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their evil work.
12 I have a lot to write to you. But I don’t want to use paper and ink. I hope I can visit you instead. Then I can talk with you face to face. That will make our joy complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
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