M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses Talks to the Israelites
1 This is the message Moses gave the people of Israel. They were in the desert east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Paran and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.
2 (The trip from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the Mount Edom road takes 11 days.) 3 But it was now 40 years after the Israelites had left Egypt. On the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people. He told them everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. 4 This was after the Lord had defeated Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei.
5 Now the Israelites were east of the Jordan River in the land of Moab. There Moses began to explain what God had commanded. Moses said:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Mount Sinai. He said, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Get ready. Go to the mountain country of the Amorites. Go to all the places around there—the Jordan Valley, the mountains, the western slopes, the southern area, the seacoast, the land of Canaan and Lebanon. Go as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord promised it to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.”
Moses Appoints Leaders
9 At that time I said, “I am not able to take care of you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has made you grow in number. There are as many of you as there are stars in the sky. 11 I pray that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, will give you a thousand times more people. That’s what he promised. 12 But I cannot take care of your problems, your troubles and your arguments by myself. 13 So choose some men from each tribe. Choose wise men who have understanding and experience. I will make them leaders over you.”
14 And you said, “That’s a good thing to do.”
15 So I took the wise and experienced leaders of your tribes. And I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over 1,000 people, over 100 people, over 50 people and over 10 people. I made them officers over your tribes. 16 Then I told your judges, “Listen to the arguments between your people. Judge fairly between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner. 17 When you judge, be fair to everyone. Don’t act as if one person is more important than another. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision comes from God. Bring the hard cases to me. I will judge them.” 18 At that time I told you everything you must do.
Spies Enter the Land
19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai. We went toward the mountain country of the Amorite people. We went through that large and terrible desert you saw. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, “You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites. The Lord our God will give us this land. 21 Look, there it is! Go up. Take it. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this. So don’t be afraid. Don’t worry.”
22 Then all of you came to me. You said, “Let’s send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and tell us the way we should go. They can tell us about the cities we will find.”
23 I thought that was a good idea. So I chose 12 of your men, 1 for each tribe. 24 They left and went up to the mountains. They came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They took some of the fruit from that land. And they brought it down to us. They said, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
Israel Refuses to Enter
26 But you refused to go. You would not obey the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled in your tents. You said, “The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to give us to the Amorites. They will destroy us. 28 Where can we go now? The spies we sent have made us afraid. They said, ‘The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big. They have walls up to the sky. And we saw the Anakites there!’”
29 Then I said to you, “Don’t be frightened. Don’t be afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will fight for you as he did in Egypt. You saw him do it. 31 And in the desert you saw how the Lord your God carried you. He was like a man carrying his son. And he has brought you safely all the way to this place.”
32 But you still did not trust the Lord your God. 33 As you moved, he went before you. He found places for you to camp. He went before you in a fire at night and in a cloud during the day. He showed you which way to go.
34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry. He made a promise. He said, 35 “I promised a good land to your ancestors. But none of you evil people will see it. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it. I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on. I will do this because he followed me completely.”
37 Because of you, the Lord was also angry with me. He said to me, “You won’t enter the land either. 38 But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will go there. Encourage Joshua, because he will lead Israel to take the land for their own.”
39 The Lord said to us, “You said your babies would be captured. But they will go into the land. They are too young to know right from wrong. So I will give the land to them. And they will take it for their own. 40 But you must turn around. Follow the desert road toward the Gulf of Aqaba.”
41 Then you said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord. But now we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” Then all of you put on weapons. You thought it would be easy to go into the mountains.
42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell them not to go up there and fight. I will not be with them. Their enemies will defeat them.”
43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You would not obey the Lord’s command. You were proud. So you went on up into the mountains. 44 The Amorites who lived there came out and fought you. They chased you like bees. They defeated you from Edom to Hormah. 45 So you came back and cried to the Lord. But the Lord did not hear you. He refused to listen to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh a long time.
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith. A song of Asaph.
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength.
Shout out loud to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin the music. Play the tambourines.
Play pleasant music on the harps and lyres.
3 Blow the sheep’s horn at the time of the New Moon.
Blow it when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the law for Israel.
It is God’s command to the people of Jacob.
5 He made this agreement with the people of Joseph
when they went out of the land of Egypt.
I heard a language I did not know, saying:
6 “I took the load off your shoulders.
I let you put down your baskets.
7 When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you.
I answered you with thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 My people, listen. I am warning you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have foreign gods among you.
You must not worship any false god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will feed you.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel did not want me.
12 So I let them go their stubborn way.
They followed their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me.
I wish Israel would live my way.
14 Then I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my hand against those who are against them.
15 Those who hate the Lord would bow before him.
Their punishment would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat.
I would fill you with honey from the rocks.”
God Judges the Judges
A song of Asaph.
82 God is in charge of the great meeting of his people.
He judges the judges.
2 He says, “How long will you defend evil people?
How long will you show greater kindness to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the orphans and the weak.
Defend the rights of the poor and suffering.
4 Save the weak and helpless
from the power of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the world is falling apart.
6 I said, ‘You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High God.’
7 But you will die like any other person.
You will die like all the leaders.”
8 God, come and judge the earth.
You own all the nations.
Warnings to Jerusalem
29 How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem.
You are the city where David camped.
Her festivals have continued
year after year.
2 I will attack Jerusalem.
That city will be filled with sadness and crying.
It will be like an altar to me.
3 I will put armies all around you, Jerusalem.
I will surround you with towers.
I will build devices around you to attack you.
4 You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground.
I will hear your voice rising from the ground.
It will sound like the voice of a ghost.
Your words will come like a whisper from the dirt.
5 Your many enemies will become like fine dust.
The groups of cruel people will be like chaff that is blown away.
Everything will happen very quickly.
6 The Lord of heaven’s armies will come.
He will come with thunder, earthquakes and great noises.
He will come with storms, strong winds and a fire that destroys.
7 Then all the nations that fight against Jerusalem
will be like a dream.
All the nations that surround and attack her
will be like a vision in the night.
8 They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating.
But when he wakes up, he is still hungry.
They will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking.
But when he wakes up, he is still weak and thirsty.
It will be the same way with all the nations
who fight against Mount Zion.
9 Be surprised and amazed.
Blind yourselves so that you cannot see.
Become drunk, but not from wine.
Trip and fall, but not from beer.
10 The Lord has made you go into a deep sleep.
He has closed your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
He has covered your heads. (The seers are your heads.)
11 This vision is like the words of a book that is closed and sealed. You may give the book to someone who can read. And you may tell that person to read it. But he will say, “I can’t read the book. It is closed, and I can’t open it.” 12 Or you may give the book to someone who cannot read. You may tell him to read the book. But he will say, “I can’t read it because I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says:
“These people say they love me.
They show honor to me with words.
But their hearts are far from me.
The honor they show me
is nothing but human rules they have memorized.
14 So I will continue to amaze these people
by doing more and more miracles.
Their wise men will lose their wisdom.
Their wise men will not be able to understand.”
Warnings About Other Nations
15 How terrible it will be for those who try
to hide things from the Lord.
How terrible it will be for those who do their work in darkness.
They think no one will see them or know what they do.
16 You are confused.
You think the clay is equal to the potter.
You think that an object can tell the person who made it,
“You didn’t make me.”
This is like a pot telling its maker,
“You don’t know anything.”
A Better Time Is Coming
17 In a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland.
And the rich farmland will seem like a forest.
18 At that time the deaf will hear the words in a book.
Instead of having darkness and gloom, the blind will see.
19 The Lord will make the poor people happy.
They will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 Then the people without mercy will come to an end.
Those who do not respect God will disappear.
Those who enjoy doing evil will be gone.
21 Those who lie about others in court will be gone.
Those who trap people in court will be gone.
Those who lie and take justice from innocent people in court will be gone.
22 The Lord set Abraham free. This Lord speaks to the family of Jacob.
“Now the people of Jacob will not be ashamed.
They will not be disgraced any longer.
23 They will see all their children,
the children I made with my hands.
And they will say my name is holy.
The people will agree that the Holy One of Jacob is holy.
They will respect the God of Israel.
24 People who do wrong will now understand.
Those who complain will accept being taught.”
Help Christians Who Teach Truth
1 From the Elder.[a]
To my dear friend Gaius whom I love in the truth:[b]
2 My dear friend, I know your soul is doing well. I pray that you are doing fine in every way and that your health is good. 3 Some brothers in Christ came and told me about the truth in your life. They said that you are following the way of truth. This made me very happy. 4 It always gives me the greatest joy when I hear that my children are following the way of truth.
5 My dear friend, it is good that you continue to help the brothers. You are helping those that you do not even know! 6 These brothers told the church about the love you have. Please help them to continue their trip. Help them in a way that will please God. 7 They started out on their trip to serve Christ. They did not accept any help from those who are not believers. 8 So we should help these brothers. And when we do, we share in their work for the truth.
9 I wrote a letter to the church. But Diotrephes will not listen to what we say. He always wants to be their leader. 10 When I come, I will talk about what Diotrephes is doing. He lies and says evil things about us. But that is not all he does. He refuses to help those who are working to serve Christ. He also stops those who want to help the brothers and puts them out of the church.
11 My dear friend, do not follow what is bad; follow what is good. He who does what is good is from God. But he who does evil has never known God.
12 Everyone says good things about Demetrius. And the truth agrees with what they say. Also, we say good about him. And you know that what we say is true.
13 I have many things I want to tell you, but I do not want to use pen and ink. 14 I hope to visit you soon. Then we can be together and talk. 15 Peace to you. The friends here with me send their love. Please give our love to each one of the friends there.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.