M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 33
Stages of Israel’s Journey.[a] 1 These are the journeys of the people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the command of the Lord, Moses recorded the stages of their journeys. These are their journeys by stages: 3 the people of Israel left Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover. They went out triumphantly in the sight of the Egyptians. 4 This was while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn whom the Lord had slain. The Lord also executed judgment upon their gods.
5 The people of Israel set out from Rameses, and they camped in Succoth. 6 They set out from Succoth and they camped in Etham, which is on the fringes of the desert. 7 They left Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, to the east of Baal-zephon. They camped near Migdol. 8 They left Pi-hahiroth and crossed over through the midst of the sea into the desert. They traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, camping in Marah. 9 They left Marah and came to Elim. There are twelve springs and seventy palm trees there, so they camped there. 10 They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin. 12 They left the Desert of Sin and camped in Dophkah. 13 They left Dophkah and camped in Alush. 14 They left Alush and camped in Rephidim. (There was no water there for the people to drink.) 15 They left Rephidim and camped in the Sinai Desert. 16 They left the Sinai Desert and camped in Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 They left Kibroth-hattaavah and camped in Hazeroth. 18 They left Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. 19 They left Rithmah and camped in Rimmon-perez. 20 They left Rimmon-perez and camped in Libnah. 21 They left Libnah and camped in Rissah. 22 They left Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. 23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They left Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. 25 They left Haradah and camped in Makheloth. 26 They left Makheloth and camped in Tahath. 27 They left Tahath and camped in Terah. 28 They left Terah and camped in Mithkah. 29 They left Mithkah and camped in Hashmonah. 30 They left Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. 31 They left Moseroth and camped in Bene-jaakan. 32 They left Bene-jaakan and camped in Hor-haggidgad. 33 They left Hor-haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. 34 They left Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. 35 They left Abronah and camped in Ezion-geber.[b] 36 They left Ezion-geber and camped in Kadesh, which is in the Desert of Zin. 37 They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.
38 Then Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor following the Lord’s command. He died there in the fortieth year after the people of Israel came out of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 The Canaanite king of Arad who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan heard that the people of Israel were coming.
41 They left Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 They left Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 They left Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 They left Punon and camped in Iye-abarim on the border of Moab. 45 They left Iye-abarim, and camped in Dibon-gad. 46 They left Dibon-gad and camped in Almon-diblathaim. 47 They left Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim near Nebo. 48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. 49 There on the plain of Moab they camped near the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.
50 Possession and Division of Canaan. On the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan 52 drive out the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all of their carved images[c] and all of their cast idols. Demolish all of their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 Distribute the land by lot among your families. Give a larger inheritance to those that are larger and a smaller inheritance to those that are smaller. Wherever the lot falls, give it to them. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, then those whom you leave will become splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell.’ ”
Psalm 78[a]
God’s Goodness in the Face of Ingratitude
1 A maskil[b] of Asaph.
[c]Give ear, my people, to my teaching;
pay attention to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables[d]
and expound the mysteries of the past.
3 [e]These things we have heard and know,
for our ancestors have related them to us.
4 We will not conceal them from our children;
we will relate them to the next generation,
the glorious and powerful deeds of the Lord
and the wonders he has performed.
5 He instituted a decree in Jacob
and established a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to make known to their descendants,
6 so that they would be known to future generations,
to children yet to be born.
In turn they were to tell their children,
7 so that they would place their trust in God,
and never forget his works
but keep his commandments.
8 Nor were they to imitate their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart[f] was not steadfast
and whose spirit was unfaithful to God.
9 [g]The Ephraimites, who were skilled archers,
fled in terror on the day of battle.[h]
10 They failed to keep God’s covenant
and refused to live in accord with his law.
11 They forgot the works he had done,
the wonders he had performed for them.
12 He worked marvels in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the Plain of Zoan.[i]
13 He divided the sea so that they could pass,
heaping up the waters as a mound.
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire by night.
15 He split open rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water to drink from limitless depths.
16 He brought forth streams from a rocky crag
and caused water to flow down in torrents.
17 [j]But they still sinned[k] against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 They tested God’s patience
by demanding the food they craved.[l]
19 They railed against God, saying:
“Can God provide a banquet in the wilderness?
20 Certainly when he struck the rock,
water gushed forth and the streams overflowed.
But can he also give us bread
or provide meat for his people?”[m]
21 When the Lord heard this, he was filled with anger;
his fire blazed forth against Jacob,
and his wrath mounted against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in God
and put no trust in his saving might.
23 Yet he issued a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat,
giving them the grain of heaven.
25 Mere mortals ate the bread of angels;[n]
he sent them an abundance of provisions.
26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens
and brought forth the south wind in force.
27 He rained down meat upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sands on the seashore.
28 He let them fall within the camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate and were completely satisfied,
for he had given them what they desired.
30 But when they did not curb their cravings,
even while the food was in their mouths,
31 the anger of God blazed up against them;
he slew their strongest warriors
and laid low the chosen of Israel.
32 [o]Despite this, they continued to sin;
they put no faith in his wonders.
33 So he brought their days to an abrupt end
and cut off their years with sudden terror.[p]
34 When death afflicted them,
they sought him;
they searched eagerly for God.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,[q]
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 However, while they flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues,
37 their hearts[r] were not right with him,
nor were they faithful to his covenant.
Chapter 25
1 O Lord, you are my God.
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for you have accomplished wonderful things,
formulated in ages past, faithful and sure.
2 You have made the city a heap of ruins,
the fortified city a mass of rubble.
The citadel of foreigners is a city no more,
and it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore, mighty peoples will honor you,
and the cities of ruthless nations
will regard you with awe.
4 For you have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
5 The blast of the ruthless
is like a winter storm or a scorching drought,
but you subdue the roar of the foe,
and the song of the ruthless fades away.
6 On this mountain[a] the Lord of hosts
will prepare for all peoples
a feast of rich food and vintage wines,
of succulent foods and well-aged wines.
7 On this mountain the Lord will destroy
the veil that shrouds[b] all the peoples,
the path spread over all the nations;
8 he will destroy death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away
the tears from every face,
and from the entire earth he will remove
the shame of all his people;
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God;
in him we place our hope for deliverance.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will not rest on this mountain,
but Moab will be trodden under his feet
as straw is trodden into the dung-heap.
11 The Lord will stretch forth his hands in Moab
as a swimmer stretches out his hands to swim,
and he will humble their pride
as his hands sweep over them.
12 He will overthrow the high fortifications of their walls,
casting them down to the ground
and making them level with the dust.
Chapter 3
1 See what love
the Father has bestowed on us,
enabling us to be called the children of God,
and that is what we are.
If the world does not recognize us,
that is because it did not know him.
2 Beloved,
we are God’s children now.
What we shall be
has not yet been revealed.
However, we do know that when he appears
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he really is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him
keeps himself pure,
just as he is pure.
The Rupture with Sin[a]
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law,
for sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he appeared
in order to take away sins,
and that there is no sin in him.
6 Whoever remains in him does not sin,[b]
and whoever sins has not seen him
nor known him.
7 Dear children,
do not let anyone deceive you.
Everyone who does what is right is righteous,
just as he is righteous.
8 Everyone who sins comes from the devil,
for the devil has been a sinner
from the very beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this very purpose:
to destroy the work of the devil.
9 Whoever is born of God
does not sin,
because his seed[c] remains in him.
He cannot sin
because he is begotten by God.
10 This is what distinguishes
the children of God from the children of the devil:
anyone who fails to live righteously
does not belong to God;
neither does anyone who fails to love a brother.
The Message of Love[d]
11 For from the beginning
you have heard the message
that we should love one another,
12 unlike Cain who was from the evil one
and slew his brother.
And why did he slay him?
Because his own deeds were evil
while those of his brother were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, my brethren,
if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed
from death to life
because we love our brethren.
Whoever does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates his brother
is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer
has eternal life abiding in him.
16 This is how we know what love is:
he laid down his life for us,
and we in turn must be prepared
to lay down our lives for our brethren.
17 If anyone is rich in worldly possessions
and sees a brother in need
but refuses to open his heart,
how can the love of God abide in him?
18 Dear children,
let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.[e]
19 This is how we know
that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts in his presence
20 even if our hearts experience a sense of guilt.
For God is greater than our hearts,
and he knows everything.
21 Beloved,
if our hearts do not condemn us,
we can approach God with confidence
22 and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we obey his commandments
and do whatever is pleasing to him.[f]
23 And this is his commandment:
that we should believe
in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.[g]
24 All those who keep his commandments abide in him,
and he abides in them.
And the proof that he abides in us
is the Spirit that he has given us.
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