M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
A Census of the New Generation
26 After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Elea′zar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war.” 3 And Moses and Elea′zar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of the people,[a] from twenty years old and upward,” as the Lord commanded Moses. The people of Israel, who came forth out of the land of Egypt, were:
5 Reuben, the first-born of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Ha′nochites; of Pallu, the family of the Pal′luites; 6 of Hezron, the family of the Hez′ronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. 7 These are the families of the Reubenites; and their number was forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty. 8 And the sons of Pallu: Eli′ab. 9 The sons of Eli′ab: Nem′uel, Dathan, and Abi′ram. These are the Dathan and Abi′ram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord, 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; and they became a warning. 11 Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah did not die.
12 The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nem′uel, the family of the Nem′uelites; of Jamin, the family of the Ja′minites; of Jachin, the family of the Ja′chinites; 13 of Zerah, the family of the Zer′ahites; of Shaul, the family of the Sha′ulites. 14 These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.
15 The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Ze′phonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16 of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; 17 of Ar′od, the family of the Ar′odites; of Are′li, the family of the Are′lites. 18 These are the families of the sons of Gad according to their number, forty thousand five hundred.
19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shela′nites; of Perez, the family of the Per′ezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zer′ahites. 21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hez′ronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamu′lites. 22 These are the families of Judah according to their number, seventy-six thousand five hundred.
23 The sons of Is′sachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the To′laites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; 24 of Jashub, the family of the Jash′ubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shim′ronites. 25 These are the families of Is′sachar according to their number, sixty-four thousand three hundred.
26 The sons of Zeb′ulun, according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Ser′edites; of Elon, the family of the E′lonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jah′leelites. 27 These are the families of the Zeb′ulunites according to their number, sixty thousand five hundred.
28 The sons of Joseph according to their families: Manas′seh and E′phraim. 29 The sons of Manas′seh: of Machir, the family of the Ma′chirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gil′eadites. 30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Ie′zer, the family of the Ie′zerites; of Helek, the family of the He′lekites; 31 and of As′riel, the family of the As′rielites; and of Shechem, the family of the She′chemites; 32 and of Shemi′da, the family of the Shemi′daites; and of Hepher, the family of the He′pherites. 33 Now Zelo′phehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelo′phehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the families of Manas′seh; and their number was fifty-two thousand seven hundred.
35 These are the sons of E′phraim according to their families: of Shu′thelah, the family of the Shu′thela′hites; of Becher, the family of the Be′cherites; of Tahan, the family of the Ta′hanites. 36 And these are the sons of Shu′thelah: of Eran, the family of the E′ranites. 37 These are the families of the sons of E′phraim according to their number, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families.
38 The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Be′la-ites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ash′belites; of Ahi′ram, the family of the Ahi′ramites; 39 of Shephu′pham, the family of the Shu′phamites; of Hupham, the family of the Hu′phamites. 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Na′aman: of Ard, the family of the Ard′ites; of Na′aman, the family of the Na′amites. 41 These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families; and their number was forty-five thousand six hundred.
42 These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shu′hamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families. 43 All the families of the Shu′hamites, according to their number, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.
44 The sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beri′ah, the family of the Beri′ites. 45 Of the sons of Beri′ah: of Heber, the family of the He′berites; of Mal′chi-el, the family of the Mal′chi-elites. 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These are the families of the sons of Asher according to their number, fifty-three thousand four hundred.
48 The sons of Naph′tali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jah′zeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer, the family of the Je′zerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shil′lemites. 50 These are the families of Naph′tali according to their families; and their number was forty-five thousand four hundred.
51 This was the number of the people of Israel, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.
52 The Lord said to Moses: 53 “To these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. 54 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers. 55 But the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56 Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller.”
57 These are the Levites as numbered according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Ko′hathites; of Merar′i, the family of the Merar′ites. 58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the He′bronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Ko′rahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Joch′ebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60 And to Aaron were born Nadab, Abi′hu, Elea′zar and Ith′amar. 61 But Nadab and Abi′hu died when they offered unholy fire before the Lord. 62 And those numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.
63 These were those numbered by Moses and Elea′zar the priest, who numbered the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there was not a man of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had numbered the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” There was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephun′neh and Joshua the son of Nun.
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, thou knowest my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from thee.
6 Let not those who hope in thee be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek thee be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is for thy sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brethren,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For zeal for thy house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me.
10 When I humbled[a] my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of thy steadfast love answer me.
With thy faithful help 14 rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for thy steadfast love is good;
according to thy abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Hide not thy face from thy servant;
for I am in distress, make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to me, redeem me,
set me free because of my enemies!
19 Thou knowest my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to thee.
20 Insults have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their own table before them become a snare;
let their sacrificial feasts[b] be a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see;
and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out thy indignation upon them,
and let thy burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation,
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten,
and him[c] whom thou hast wounded, they afflict still more.[d]
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from thee.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let thy salvation, O God, set me on high!
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy,
and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves therein.
35 For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah;
and his servants shall dwell[e] there and possess it;
36 the children of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
16 They have sent lambs
to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 Like fluttering birds,
like scattered nestlings,
so are the daughters of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.
3 “Give counsel,
grant justice;
make your shade like night
at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts,
betray not the fugitive;
4 let the outcasts of Moab
sojourn among you;
be a refuge to them
from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples under foot
has vanished from the land,
5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love
and on it will sit in faithfulness
in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
and is swift to do righteousness.”
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab,
how proud he was;
of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence—
his boasts are false.
7 Therefore let Moab wail,
let every one wail for Moab.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
for the raisin-cakes of Kir-har′eseth.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish,
and the vine of Sibmah;
the lords of the nations
have struck down its branches,
which reached to Jazer
and strayed to the desert;
its shoots spread abroad
and passed over the sea.
9 Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer
for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Ele-a′leh;
for upon your fruit and your harvest
the battle shout has fallen.
10 And joy and gladness are taken away
from the fruitful field;
and in the vineyards no songs are sung,
no shouts are raised;
no treader treads out wine in the presses;
the vintage shout is hushed.[a]
11 Therefore my soul moans like a lyre for Moab,
and my heart for Kir-he′res.
12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.
13 This is the word which the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord says, “In three years, like the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who survive will be very few and feeble.”
Good Stewards of God’s Grace
4 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,[a] arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions but by the will of God. 3 Let the time that is past suffice for doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not now join them in the same wild profligacy, and they abuse you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God.
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers. 8 Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. 10 As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering as a Christian
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory[b] and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; 16 yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
“If the righteous man is scarcely saved,
where will the impious and sinner appear?”
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.