M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
24 1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye [a]was closed saith;
4 He saith, who heareth the words of God,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
6 As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river-side,
As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted,
As cedar-trees beside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
And his seed shall be in many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox:
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And smite them through with his arrows.
9 He couched, he lay down as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,
And cursed be every one that curseth thee.
10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together; and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honor. 12 And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers that thou sentest unto me, saying, 13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; what Jehovah speaketh, that will I speak? 14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. 15 And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye [b]was closed saith;
16 He saith, who heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons [c]of tumult.
18 And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
19 And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
20 And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,
Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction.
21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,
Strong is thy dwelling-place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless [d]Kain shall be wasted,
[e]Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
23 And he took up his parable, and said,
Alas, who shall live when God [f]doeth this?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber;
And he also shall come to destruction.
25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
Praise for God’s mighty deeds and for his answer to prayer.
For the Chief Musician. A Song, a Psalm.
66 Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth:
2 Sing forth the glory of his name:
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say unto God, How terrible are thy works!
Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies [a]submit themselves unto thee.
4 All the earth shall worship thee,
And shall sing unto thee;
They shall sing to thy name. Selah
5 Come, and see the works of God;
He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
They went through the river on foot:
There [b]did we rejoice in him.
7 He ruleth by his might for ever;
His eyes observe the nations:
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Oh bless our God, ye peoples,
And make the voice of his praise to be heard;
9 Who [c]holdeth our soul in life,
And suffereth not our feet to be moved.
10 For thou, O God, hast proved us:
Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
11 Thou broughtest us into the net;
Thou layedst a sore burden upon our loins.
12 Thou didst cause men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But thou broughtest us out into [d]a wealthy place.
13 I will come into thy house with burnt-offerings;
I will pay thee my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered,
And my mouth spake, when I was in distress.
15 I will offer unto thee burnt-offerings of fatlings,
With the incense of rams;
I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah
16 Come, and hear, all ye that fear God,
And I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
17 I cried unto him with my mouth,
And [e]he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I [f]regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord [g]will not hear:
19 But verily God hath heard;
He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who hath not turned away my prayer,
Nor his lovingkindness from me.
The nations exhorted to praise God.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm, a Song.
67 God be merciful unto us, and bless us,
And cause his face to shine [h]upon us; Selah
2 That thy way may be known upon earth,
Thy salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples [i]praise thee, O God;
Let all the peoples praise thee.
4 Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy;
For thou wilt judge the peoples with equity,
And [j]govern the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise thee, O God;
Let all the peoples praise thee.
6 The earth hath yielded its increase:
God, even our own God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us;
And all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
14 For Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. 2 And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Jehovah for servants and for handmaids: and they shall take them captive whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 And it shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, 4 that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the [a]golden city ceased! 5 Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers; 6 [b]that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8 Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us. 9 Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up [c]the dead for thee, even all the [d]chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! 13 And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home? 18 All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, [e]clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever.
21 Prepare ye [f]slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. 22 And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son, saith Jehovah. 23 I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
24 Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall annul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this [g]burden.
29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30 And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill thy root with famine, and thy remnant shall be slain. 31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and [h]there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah hath founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge.
2 Putting away therefore all [a]wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 as newborn babes, long for the [b]spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation; 3 if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious: 4 unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, [c]precious, 5 ye also, as living stones, are built up [d]a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Because it is contained in [e]scripture,
[f]Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, [g]precious:
And he that believeth on [h]him shall not be put to shame.
7 [i]For you therefore that believe is the [j]preciousness: but for such as disbelieve,
[k]The stone which the builders rejected,
The same was made the head of the corner;
8 and,
[l]A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence;
[m]for they [n]stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 9 But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
11 Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
13 Be subject to every [o]ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or unto governors, as sent [p]by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 as free, and not [q]using your freedom for a cloak of [r]wickedness, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
18 [s]Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is [t]acceptable, if for conscience [u]toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is [v]acceptable with God. 21 For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed [w]himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 who his own self [x]bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose [y]stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and [z]Bishop of your souls.
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