M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses Talks to the Israelites
1 These are the commands that Moses gave the Israelites while they were in the Jordan Valley, in the desert east of the Jordan River. This was across from Suph, between the desert of Paran and the cities Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 The trip from Mount Horeb through the mountains of Seir to Kadesh Barnea takes only eleven days. 3 But it was 40 years from the time the Israelites left Egypt until the time they came to this place. On the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year, Moses spoke to the people and told them everything the Lord commanded. 4 This was after he defeated Sihon and Og. (Sihon was the king of the Amorites and lived in Heshbon. Og was the king of Bashan and lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.) 5 The Israelites were in Moab on the east side of the Jordan River when Moses began to explain what God had commanded:
6 “At Mount Horeb the Lord our God spoke to us. He said, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Go to the hill country where the Amorites live and to all the neighboring areas in the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western slopes, the Negev, and the seacoast. Go throughout the land of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 Look, I am giving you this land. Go and take it. It is the land that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to them and to their descendants.’
Moses Chooses Leaders
9 “At that time I told you, ‘I can’t take care of you by myself. 10 And now, there are even more of you. The Lord your God has added more and more people, so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, give you 1000 times more people than you are now! May he bless you as he promised. 12 But I cannot take care of you and solve all your arguments by myself. 13 So choose some men from each tribe, and I will make them leaders over you. Choose wise men with experience who understand people.’
14 “And you said, ‘That is a good thing to do.’
15 “So I took the wise, experienced men you chose from your tribes, and I made them your leaders. In this way I gave you leaders over 1000 people, over 100 people, over 50 people, and over 10 people. I also gave you officers for each of your tribes.
16 “At that time I told these judges, ‘Listen to the arguments between your people. Be fair when you judge each case. It doesn’t matter if the problem is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner. You must judge each case fairly. 17 You must treat everyone the same when you judge. You must listen carefully to everyone—whether they are important or not. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision is from God. But if there is a case too hard for you to judge, bring it to me and I will judge it.’ 18 At that same time I also told you everything you must do.
The Spies Go to Canaan
19 “So we obeyed the Lord our God. We left Mount Horeb and went to the hill country of the Amorites. You remember that big, terrible desert that we walked through. We came as far as Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, ‘You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites. The Lord our God will give us this country. 21 Look, there it is! Go up and take the land for your own. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don’t be afraid or worry about anything.’
22 “But all of you came to me and said, ‘Let’s send some men to look at the land first. They can spy out the land and come back and tell us the way we should go and which cities we will come to.’
23 “I thought that was a good idea. So I chose twelve men from among you, one man from each tribe. 24 Then they left and went up to the hill country. They came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it back to us. They told us about the land and said, ‘The Lord our God is giving us a good land.’
26 “But you refused to go into the land. You refused to obey the Lord your God. 27 You went to your tents and began to complain. You said, ‘The Lord hates us! He brought us out of the land of Egypt just to let the Amorites destroy us. 28 Where can we go now? The men we sent have frightened us with their report. They said, “The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big and have walls as high as the sky. And we saw giants[a] there!”’
29 “So I said to you, ‘Don’t be upset or afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God is in front, leading you. He will fight for you just as he did in Egypt. 31 You saw what happened in the desert. You saw how the Lord your God carried you like a man carries his child. He brought you safely all the way to this place.’
32 “But you didn’t trust the Lord your God then either. 33 But he was always in front, going ahead to find a place for you to camp. At night, he was in the fire that showed you where to go. And during the day, he was in the cloud.
People Not Allowed to Enter Canaan
34 “The Lord heard what you said, and he was angry. He made a vow. He said, 35 ‘Not one of you evil people who are alive now will go into the good land that I promised to your ancestors. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see that land. I will give Caleb the land he walked on, and I will give that land to his descendants, because he did all that I, the Lord, commanded.’
37 “The Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, you cannot enter the land, either. 38 But your helper, Joshua son of Nun, will go into the land. Encourage Joshua, because he will lead the Israelites to take the land for their own. 39 You thought your little children would be taken by your enemies. But those children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will go into the land. I will give it to them. Your children will take the land for their own. 40 But you—you must turn around, take the road to the Red Sea and go back into the desert.’
41 “Then you said, ‘Moses, we sinned against the Lord, but now we will do what the Lord our God commanded us before—we will go and fight.’
“Then each of you put on your weapons. You thought it would be easy to go and take the hill country. 42 But the Lord said to me, ‘Tell the people not to go up there and fight, because I will not be with them. Their enemies will defeat them!’
43 “I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You refused to obey the Lord’s command. You thought you could use your own power, so you went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived there came out like a swarm of bees and chased you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you came back crying to the Lord for help, but the Lord refused to listen to you. 46 So you stayed at Kadesh for such a long time.
To the director: On the gittith. One of Asaph’s songs.
81 Be happy and sing to God, our strength.
Shout with joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin the music.
Play the tambourines.
Play the pleasant harps and lyres.
3 Blow the ram’s horn at the time of the new moon[a]
and at the time of the full moon,[b] when our festival begins.
4 This is the law for the people of Israel.
The God of Jacob gave the command.
5 God made this agreement with Joseph’s people,
when he led them out of Egypt.
In a language we didn’t understand, God said,
6 “I took the load from your shoulder.
I let you drop the worker’s basket.
7 When you were in trouble, you called for help, and I set you free.
I was hidden in the storm clouds, and I answered you.
I tested you by the water at Meribah.[c]” Selah
8 “My people, I am warning you.
Israel, listen to me!
9 Don’t worship any of the false gods
that the foreigners worship.
10 I, the Lord, am your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
Israel, open your mouth,
and I will feed you.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel did not obey me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn way
and do whatever they wanted.
13 If my people would listen to me
and would live the way I want,
14 then I would defeat their enemies.
I would punish those who cause them trouble.
15 Those who hate the Lord would shake with fear.
They would be punished forever.
16 I would give the best wheat to my people.
I would give them the purest honey, until they were satisfied.”
One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
82 God stands in the assembly of the gods.[d]
He stands as judge among the judges.
2 He says, “How long will you judge unfairly
and show special favors to the wicked?” Selah
3 “Defend the poor and orphans.
Protect the rights of the poor.
4 Help those who are poor and helpless.
Save them from those who are evil.
5 “They[e] don’t know what is happening.
They don’t understand!
They don’t know what they are doing.
Their world is falling down around them!”
6 I, God Most High, say,
“You are gods,[f] my own sons.
7 But you will die as all people must die.
Your life will end like that of any ruler.”
8 Get up, God! You be the judge!
You be the leader over all the nations!
God Punishes Jerusalem
29 God says, “Look at Ariel,[a] the city where David camped. Keep on having your festivals, year after year. 2 But I will punish Ariel. The city will be filled with sadness and crying, but it will always be my Ariel.
3 “I will put armies all around you, Ariel. I will raise war towers against you. 4 You will be pulled to the ground. Your voice will rise from the ground like the voice of a ghost. Your words come like a whisper from the dirt.”
5 There will be so many foreigners that they will be like dust. Cruel people will be like the chaff blowing in the wind. Then suddenly, 6 the Lord All-Powerful will punish you with earthquakes, thunder, and loud noises. There will be storms, strong winds, and a burning, destructive fire. 7 Many nations will fight against Ariel. It will be a nightmare. Armies will surround Ariel and punish her. 8 But it will also be like a dream to those armies. They will not get what they want. It will be like a hungry man dreaming about food. When the man wakes up, he is still hungry. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming about water. When the man wakes up, he is still thirsty. The same thing is true about all the nations fighting against Zion. Those nations will not get what they want.
9 Be surprised and amazed!
You will become drunk, but not from wine.
Look and be amazed!
You will stumble and fall, but not from beer.
10 The Lord will make you sleepy.
He will close your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
He will cover your heads. (The prophets are your heads.)
11 To you my words are like the words in a book that is closed and sealed.[b] You can give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But that person will say, “I cannot read the book. It is closed and I cannot open it.” 12 Or you can give the book to someone who cannot read and tell that person to read it. That person will say, “I cannot read the book because I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says, “These people come to honor me with words, but I am not really important to them. The worship they give me is nothing but human rules they have memorized. 14 So I will continue to amaze them by doing powerful and amazing things. Their wise men will lose their wisdom. Even the most intelligent among them will not be able to understand.”
15 Look at them! They try to hide things from the Lord. They think he will not understand. They do their evil things in darkness. They tell themselves: “No one can see us. No one will know who we are.”
16 You turn things upside down. You think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that something that is made can tell the one who made it, “You did not make me!” This is like a pot telling its maker, “You know nothing.”
A Better Time Is Coming
17 This is the truth: After a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland, and the farmland will be like thick forests. 18 The deaf will hear the words in the book. The blind will see through the darkness and fog. 19 The Lord will make poor people happy. The poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 This will happen when the people who are mean and cruel have come to an end. It will happen when those who enjoy doing bad things are gone. 21 (They lie about good people. They try to trap people in court. They try to destroy innocent people.)
22 So the Lord, who made Abraham free, speaks to Jacob’s family. He says, “Now the people of Jacob will not be embarrassed and ashamed.
23 Yes, when they see all their children,
the children I myself have made for them,
they will honor[c] my name as holy.
They will respect the God of Israel.
24 Many of these people did not understand, so they did what was wrong. They complained, but now they will learn their lesson.”
1 Greetings from the Elder.[a]
To my dear friend Gaius, a person I truly love.
2 My dear friend, I know that you are doing well spiritually. So I pray that everything else is going well with you and that you are enjoying good health. 3 Some believers came and told me about the truth[b] in your life. They told me that you continue to follow 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 believers. They are people you don’t even know. 6 They 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 went on their trip to serve Christ. They did not accept any help from people who are not believers. 8 So we should help them. When we help them, we share with 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 the leader. 10 When I come, I will talk with him about what he is doing. He lies and says evil things about us, but that is not all. He refuses to welcome and help the believers who travel there. And he will not let others help them. If they do, he stops them from meeting with the church anymore.
11 My dear friend, don’t follow what is bad; follow what is good. Whoever does what is good is from God. But whoever 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 don’t 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.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International