M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 11
The People of Israel Complain. 1 The people complained about their hardships and the Lord heard and his anger flared up. Then the fire of the Lord burned up the outskirts of the camp. 2 The people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched. 3 He named that place Taberah,[a] for the fire of the Lord had burned in their midst.
4 Now the rabble[b] among them fell victim to their desires again, and the people of Israel said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is fading away, all we ever see is this manna.” 7 Manna had the shape of coriander seed and it looked like resin. 8 The people would go around gathering it, and then they would grind it in a mill or beat it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. It tasted something like fresh olive oil. 9 The manna would come down when the dew settled upon the camp at night.
10 Moses heard the people weeping, each family at the entrance to their tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was greatly displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you torturing your servant? Have I not found favor in your sight, that you would burden me with this whole people? 12 Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms like a nurse carries a small child to the land that I have promised to their ancestors?’ 13 Where can I get enough meat to give to all this people, for they cry to me saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry this entire people by myself; they are too burdensome for me. 15 If this is the way that you are going to treat me, and if I have found favor in your sight, then please put me to death right now so I do not have to keep looking upon my misery.”
16 But the Lord said to Moses, “Bring me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be elders and leaders of the people. Bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them stand there with yourself. 17 I will come down and speak to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you and put it upon them. They will carry the burden of the people with you, so that you do not have to carry it alone. 18 Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow you will eat meat. You cried out in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? We were better off when we were in Egypt.” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, nor for two days, nor for five days, nor for ten days, nor for twenty days. 20 You will eat it for a whole month, until your faces overflow with it, and you become sick of it, for you have despised the Lord who is among you and whom you have confronted crying out, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”
21 But Moses said, “I am standing among six hundred thousand people on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat to eat for an entire month?’ 22 Shall the flocks and herds be slaughtered to satisfy their desires? Will all of the fish of the sea be gathered together to fill them?” 23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you will see whether my word will be fulfilled or not.”
24 Seventy Elders. So Moses went out and proclaimed the words of the Lord to the people. He brought seventy of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the Spirit that was upon him and placed it upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit descended upon them, they began to prophesy,[c] although they did not do so again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp. One was named Eldad, and the other was named Medad. The Spirit descended upon them. They had been on the list, but they had not gone out to the tabernacle. They began to prophesy in the camp. 27 A young man ran and informed Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Joshua, the son of Nun, who had been an aide to Moses since he was young, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? Would that all of the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them!” 30 Moses then returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 Now a wind came forth from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea, making them fall near the camp. They were all around the camp, a day’s journey on one side and a day’s journey on the other side. They were piled up on the surface of the land two cubits high.
32 The people stayed up all day, and all night, and all the next day gathering the quail. The least that any of them gathered was ten homers. They spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and they were still chewing on it, the anger of the Lord arose against the people and the Lord struck the people with a horrible plague. 34 This is why that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah,[d] because they buried the people who had fallen victim to their desires there. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and they camped there.
Psalm 48[a]
Thanksgiving for the Deliverance of God’s People
1 A psalm of the sons of Korah.[b] A song.
2 Great is the Lord and worthy of high praise
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,[c] 3 towering in its beauty,
is the joy of the entire earth.
Mount Zion, the true heights of the north,[d]
is the city of the great King.
4 God is in her citadels
and has revealed himself as her fortress.[e]
5 [f]For the kings conspired together
and came onward in unison.
6 As soon as they beheld her, they were astounded;
filled with panic, they fled.
7 They were seized with trembling,
with pains like those of a woman in labor,
8 as though a wind from the east[g]
were breaking up the ships of Tarshish.
9 What we had heard,
we have now beheld for ourselves[h]
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God
that he established to endure forever. Selah
10 O God, as we stand in the midst of your temple,
we will meditate on your kindness.[i]
11 Like your name,[j] O God,
your praise extends to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness;
12 let Mount Zion rejoice.
Let the towns of Judah exult
in your saving judgments.[k]
13 [l]Walk around Zion; pass throughout her;
count the number of her towers.
14 Take careful note of her ramparts,
walk through her citadels,
so that you may recount for future generations
15 that such is God;
our God forever and ever,
he will be our guide eternally.[m]
The Book of Judgment[a]
Indictment of Israel and Judah[b]
Chapter 1
The Sins of Israel. 1 The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem which he received during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 [c]Listen, O heavens, and pay close attention, O earth,
for the Lord is speaking.
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 An ox knows its owner
and the donkey its master’s stall,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
4 You are a sinful nation,
a people weighed down with iniquity,
a race of evildoers
whose children are corrupt;
you have forsaken the Lord,
despised the Holy One of Israel,
and turned your backs on him.
5 [d]Why do you continue to seek further beatings?
Why do you persist in your rebellion?
Your entire head is sick
and your whole heart is faint.
6 From the sole of your foot to your head
there is not a single healthy area
nothing but bruises and welts and open sores
that have not been drained or bandaged
or soothed with ointment.
7 Your country is a desolate waste,
and fire has destroyed your cities.
Before your very eyes
foreigners have devoured your land
and left it as desolate
as Sodom after it had been overthrown.
8 Daughter Zion[e] is left
like a shack in a vineyard,
like a shed in a field of cucumbers,
like a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of hosts[f]
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have become like Sodom
and been like Gomorrah.
10 [g]Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom.
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah.
11 What do I care about your unceasing sacrifices?
says the Lord.
I am weary of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed animals.
I derive no delight in the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come into my presence,
who has asked you to present such offerings?
Never again trample my courts!
13 To bring me offerings is futile;
I regard your incense as loathsome.
New moons and Sabbaths and sacred assemblies—
I cannot tolerate your iniquity that accompanies them.
14 I loathe your new moons and your festivals;
they have become a burden to me
and I can no longer endure bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands,[h]
I will turn away my eyes from you.
Even if you pray endlessly,
I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with blood.
16 Wash yourselves and become clean;
remove your evil deeds
far from my sight.
Cease to do evil
17 and learn to do good.
Pursue justice and rescue the oppressed;
listen to the plea of the orphan[i]
and defend the widow.
18 Come now and let us discuss this,
says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow.
Though they are as red as crimson,
they shall become as white as wool.
19 If you are willing to obey,
you will eat the best food
that the land has to offer.
20 However, if you refuse and rebel,
the sword will devour you,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
21 How the faithful city
has become an adulteress,[j]
she who used to be a symbol of justice.
Righteousness used to dwell in her,
but now she is the abode of murderers.
22 Your silver has turned to dross,
and your wine is mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
and are eager to receive gifts.
They do not treat the orphan with justice,
and they refuse to listen to the pleas of widows.
24 Therefore, the Lord of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel, says this:
I am determined to vent my anger upon my enemies
and wreak vengeance on my foes.
25 I will turn my hand against you
and refine your dross in the furnace,
purging all of your impurities.
26 And I will restore your judges
as in the days of old
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Then you will be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.
27 Zion will be redeemed by judgment
and those who are repentant by righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners alike will be destroyed,
and those who forsake the Lord will perish.
29 You will be ashamed of the sacred oaks[k]
which offered you such delight,
and you will blush when you behold the gardens
which you chose in their stead.
30 You will be like a tree whose leaves are withered,
like a garden without water.
31 The strong man will become like straw
and his work like a spark.
Both will burn together,
and no one will be able to quench the flames.
Chapter 9
The Ancient Worship.[a] 1 Now the first covenant also had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was constructed. In the outer section, called the Holy Place, were located the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread.
3 Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies 4 in which stood the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold. In that ark were the gold jar containing the manna, and Aaron’s staff that had sprouted buds, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of atonement (but we cannot discuss these things in detail now). 6 With these arrangements for worship having been made, the priests continually enter the first tabernacle to carry out their ritual duties. 7 However, the high priest alone enters the second tabernacle, and he can do so only once a year, and not without the blood that he offers for himself and for the errors that the people had committed.
8 By this the Holy Spirit reveals to us that as long as the first tabernacle remains standing, the way into the sanctuary has not been disclosed. 9 This is a symbol of the present time, during which the gifts and sacrifices that are offered are unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They deal only with food and drink and various ceremonial washings, regulations in regard to the body that are imposed until the coming of the new order.
11 Christ Has Come.[b] But now Christ has arrived as the high priest of the good things that have come. He has passed through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, that is, not a part of this creation, 12 and he has entered once for all into the sanctuary not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of ashes of a heifer sanctify those who have been defiled and restore bodily purity. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from acts that lead to death so that we may worship the living God.
15 A Covenant Sealed with the Blood of Christ.[c] For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since his death has served to redeem the sins that were committed under the first covenant.
16 Now when a will is involved, it is obligatory to prove the death of the one who made it. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it has no force while the one who made it is still alive.
18 Hence, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when all the commandments of the Law had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to observe.”
21 And in the same way, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the liturgical vessels. 22 Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves required still greater sacrifices.
24 Once and for All.[d] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it his purpose to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own. 26 For then he would have had to suffer over and over again since the creation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to abolish sin by sacrificing himself.
27 And just as human beings are destined to die but once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.
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