M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
I. First Address
Chapter 1
Introduction. 1 [a]These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah, opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is a journey of eleven days from Horeb[b] to Kadesh-barnea by way of the highlands of Seir.
3 In the fortieth year,[c] on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites according to all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon,(A) and Og, king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law:
Departure from Horeb. 6 [d](B)The Lord, our God, said to us at Horeb:[e] You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Leave here and go to the hill country of the Amorites[f] and to all the surrounding regions, the Arabah, the mountains, the Shephelah, the Negeb and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon as far as the Great River, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given that land over to you.(C) Go now and possess the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.
Appointment of Elders. 9 (D)At that time I said to you, “I am unable to carry you by myself.(E) 10 The Lord, your God, has made you numerous, and now you are as numerous as the stars of the heavens.(F) 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times over, and bless you as he promised! 12 But how can I, by myself, bear the weight, the contentiousness of you? 13 Provide wise, discerning, and reputable persons for each of your tribes, that I may appoint them as your leaders.” 14 You answered me, “What you have proposed is good.” 15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and reputable, and set them as leaders over you, commanders over thousands, over hundreds, over fifties and over tens, and other tribal officers. 16 (G)I charged your judges at that time, “Listen to complaints among your relatives, and administer true justice to both parties even if one of them is a resident alien. 17 In rendering judgment, do not consider who a person is; give ear to the lowly and to the great alike, fearing no one, for the judgment is God’s. Any case that is too difficult for you bring to me and I will hear it.” 18 Thus I charged you, at that time, with all the things you were to do.
The Twelve Scouts. 19 (H)Then we set out from Horeb and journeyed through that whole vast and fearful wilderness that you have seen, in the direction of the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord, our God, had commanded; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.(I) 20 I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord, our God, is giving us. 21 See, the Lord, your God, has given this land over to you. Go up and take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” 22 Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and report to us on the road we should follow and the cities we will come upon.” 23 Agreeing with the proposal, I took twelve men from your number, one from each tribe. 24 They set out into the hill country as far as the Wadi Eshcol, and explored it. 25 Then, taking along some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “The land the Lord, our God, is giving us is good.”
Threats of Revolt. 26 (J)But you refused to go up;(K) you defied the command of the Lord, your God. 27 You set to murmuring in your tents, “Out of hatred for us the Lord has brought us out of the land of Egypt,(L) to deliver us into the power of the Amorites and destroy us. 28 What shall we meet with up there? Our men have made our hearts melt by saying, ‘The people are bigger and taller than we, and their cities are large and fortified to the sky; besides, we saw the Anakim[g] there.’”(M)
29 But I said to you, “Have no dread or fear of them. 30 (N)The Lord, your God, who goes before you, is the one who will fight for you, just as he acted with you before your very eyes in Egypt, 31 as well as in the wilderness, where you saw how the Lord, your God, carried you, as one carries his own child, all along your journey until you arrived at this place.” 32 Despite this, you would not trust the Lord, your God, 33 who journeys before you to find you a place to camp—by night in the fire, and by day in the cloud, to show you the way to go.(O) 34 When the Lord heard your words, he was angry, and took an oath: 35 Not a single one of this evil generation shall look upon the good land I swore to give to your ancestors, 36 except Caleb,[h] son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, for to him and to his descendants I will give the land he trod upon,(P) because he has fully followed the Lord.
37 The Lord was angered against me also on your account, and said, You shall not enter there either,(Q) 38 but Joshua,(R) son of Nun, your attendant, shall enter. Encourage him, for he is the one who is to give Israel its possession. 39 Your little ones, who you said would become plunder, and your children, who as yet do not know good from evil—they shall enter there; to them I will give it, and they shall take possession of it. 40 But as for yourselves: turn back and proceed into the wilderness on the Red Sea road.
Unsuccessful Invasion. 41 (S)In reply you said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up ourselves and fight, just as the Lord, our God, commanded us.” And each of you girded on his weapons, making light of going up into the hill country. 42 But the Lord said to me, Warn them: Do not go up and fight—for I will not be in your midst—lest you be beaten down before your enemies. 43 I gave you this warning but you would not listen. You defied the Lord’s command and arrogantly went off into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites living in that hill country came out against you and put you to flight the way bees do, cutting you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 On your return you wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 That is why you had to stay as long as you did at Kadesh.
Psalm 81[a]
An Admonition to Fidelity
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.”[b] Of Asaph.
I
2 Sing joyfully to God our strength;(A)
raise loud shouts to the God of Jacob!
3 Take up a melody, sound the timbrel,
the pleasant lyre with a harp.
4 [c]Blow the shofar at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.(B)
5 For this is a law for Israel,
an edict of the God of Jacob,(C)
6 He made it a decree for Joseph
when he came out of the land of Egypt.
II
7 [d]I heard a tongue I did not know:
“I removed his shoulder from the burden;[e]
his hands moved away from the basket.(D)
8 In distress you called and I rescued you;
I answered you in secret with thunder;
At the waters of Meribah[f] I tested you:(E) 9 ‘Listen, my people, I will testify against you
Selah
If only you will listen to me, Israel!(F)
10 There shall be no foreign god among you;[g](G)
you shall not bow down to an alien god.
11 ‘I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth that I may fill it.’
12 But my people did not listen to my words;
Israel would not submit to me.
13 So I thrust them away to the hardness of their heart;
‘Let them walk in their own machinations.’(H)
14 O that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways,(I)
15 In a moment I would humble their foes,
and turn back my hand against their oppressors.(J)
16 Those who hate the Lord will try flattering him,
but their fate is fixed forever.
17 But Israel I will feed with the finest wheat,
I will satisfy them with honey from the rock.”(K)
Psalm 82[h]
The Downfall of Unjust Gods
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
God takes a stand in the divine council,
gives judgment in the midst of the gods.(L)
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and favor the cause of the wicked?(M)
Selah
3 “Defend the lowly and fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Rescue the lowly and poor;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”(N)
II
5 [i]The gods neither know nor understand,
wandering about in darkness,
and all the world’s foundations shake.
6 I declare: “Gods though you be,[j](O)
offspring of the Most High all of you,
7 Yet like any mortal you shall die;
like any prince you shall fall.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,[k]
for yours are all the nations.
Chapter 29
Judgment and Deliverance of Jerusalem
1 Ah! Ariel, Ariel,[a]
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,(A)
2 But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:(B)
3 I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.(C)
4 You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.(D)
5 The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.(E)
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you shall be visited by the Lord of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.(F)
7 [b]Then like a dream,
a vision of the night,
Shall be the horde of all the nations
who make war against Ariel:
All the outposts, the siege works against it,
all who distress it.
8 As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakens with an empty stomach,
Or when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakens faint, his throat parched,
So shall the horde of all the nations be,
who make war against Mount Zion.
Blindness and Perversity
9 [c]Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!(G)
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).[d](H)
11 For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12 When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
13 The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,(I)
14 Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.(J)
15 Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the Lord!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”(K)
16 Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”(L)
Redemption[e]
17 Surely, in a very little while,
Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be considered a forest!(M)
18 On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.(N)
19 The lowly shall again find joy in the Lord,
the poorest rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.(O)
20 For the tyrant shall be no more,
the scoffer shall cease to be;
All who are ready for evil shall be cut off,(P)
21 those who condemn with a mere word,
Who ensnare the defender at the gate,
and leave the just with an empty claim.(Q)
22 Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:[f]
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.(R)
23 For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.(S)
24 Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
1 [a]The Presbyter to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth.(A)
2 Beloved, I hope you are prospering in every respect and are in good health, just as your soul is prospering. 3 I rejoiced greatly when some of the brothers[b] came and testified to how truly you walk in the truth.(B) 4 Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.(C)
5 Beloved, you are faithful in all you do[c] for the brothers, especially for strangers;(D) 6 they have testified to your love before the church.(E) Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey.[d] 7 For they have set out for the sake of the Name[e] and are accepting nothing from the pagans. 8 Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to dominate,[f] does not acknowledge us. 10 Therefore, if I come,[g] I will draw attention to what he is doing, spreading evil nonsense about us. And not content with that, he will not receive the brothers, hindering those who wish to do so and expelling them from the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil[h] but imitate good. Whoever does what is good is of God; whoever does what is evil has never seen God.(F) 12 Demetrius[i] receives a good report from all, even from the truth itself. We give our testimonial as well, and you know our testimony is true.(G)
13 I have much to write to you, but I do not wish to write with pen and ink.(H) 14 Instead, I hope to see you soon, when we can talk face to face. 15 Peace be with you. The friends greet you; greet the friends[j] there each by name.(I)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.