Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Deuteronomy 3-4

3Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.

²The Lord said to me, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”

³So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors.

⁴At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them-the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

⁵All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.

⁶We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city-men, women and children.

⁷But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.

⁸So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.

⁹(Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)

¹⁰We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

¹¹(Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

¹²Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns.

¹³The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.

¹⁴Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair. )

¹⁵And I gave Gilead to Makir.

¹⁶But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites.

¹⁷Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ), below the slopes of Pisgah.

¹⁸I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites.

¹⁹However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you,

²⁰until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the Lord your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”

²¹At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going.

²²Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”

²³At that time I pleaded with the Lord :

²⁴“O Sovereign Lord , you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?

²⁵Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan-that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

²⁶But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.

²⁷Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.

²⁸But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

²⁹So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

4Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord , the God of your fathers, is giving you.

²Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

³You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,

⁴but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

⁵See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.

⁶Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

⁷What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

⁸And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

⁹Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

¹⁰Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

¹¹You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

¹²Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

¹³He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.

¹⁴And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

¹⁵You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,

¹⁶so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,

¹⁷or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,

¹⁸or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.

¹⁹And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars-all the heavenly array-do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

²⁰But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

²¹The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance.

²²I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.

²³Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden.

²⁴For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

²⁵After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time-if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and provoking him to anger,

²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

²⁷The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.

²⁸There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

²⁹But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

³⁰When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.

³¹For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

³²Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

³³Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?

³⁴Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.

³⁶From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.

³⁷Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,

³⁸to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

³⁹Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

⁴⁰Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

⁴¹Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,

⁴²to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if he had unintentionally killed his neighbor without malice aforethought. He could flee into one of these cities and save his life.

⁴³The cities were these: Bezer in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

⁴⁴This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.

⁴⁵These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt

⁴⁶and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.

⁴⁷They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

⁴⁸This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),

⁴⁹and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Deuteronomy 1-2

1These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan-that is, in the Arabah-opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

²(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)

³In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.

⁴This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

⁵East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:

⁶The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

⁷Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

⁸See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers-to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-and to their descendants after them.”

⁹At that time I said to you, “You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone.

¹⁰The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky.

¹¹May the Lord , the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!

¹²But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?

¹³Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.”

¹⁴You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.”

¹⁵So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you-as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.

¹⁶And I charged your judges at that time: Hear the disputes between your brothers and judge fairly, whether the case is between brother Israelites or between one of them and an alien.

¹⁷Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.

¹⁸And at that time I told you everything you were to do.

¹⁹Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful desert that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.

²⁰Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.

²¹See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord , the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

²²Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”

²³The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe.

²⁴They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it.

²⁵Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”

²⁶But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.

²⁷You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.

²⁸Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ “

²⁹Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.

³⁰The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,

³¹and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

³²In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God,

³³who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

³⁴When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:

³⁵“Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers,

³⁶except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.”

³⁷Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either.

³⁸But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

³⁹And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad-they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.

⁴⁰But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea. “

⁴¹Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord . We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

⁴²But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’ “

⁴³So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord ‘s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country.

⁴⁴The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.

⁴⁵You came back and wept before the Lord , but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you.

⁴⁶And so you stayed in Kadesh many days-all the time you spent there.

2Then we turned back and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea, as the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.

²Then the Lord said to me,

³“You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.

⁴Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.

⁵Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.

⁶You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ “

⁷The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

⁸So we went on past our brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.”

¹⁰(The Emites used to live there-a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.

¹¹Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

¹²Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their possession.)

¹³And the Lord said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley.

¹⁴Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.

¹⁵The Lord ‘s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.

¹⁶Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,

¹⁷the Lord said to me,

¹⁸“Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.

¹⁹When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”

²⁰(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

²¹They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.

²²The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

²³And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)

²⁴“Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

²⁵This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶From the desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying,

²⁷“Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

²⁸Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot-

²⁹as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us-until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.”

³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

³¹The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

³²When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz,

³³the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.

³⁴At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them-men, women and children. We left no survivors.

³⁵But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.

³⁶From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them.

³⁷But in accordance with the command of the Lord our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 35-36

35On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses,

²“Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.

³Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for their cattle, flocks and all their other livestock.

⁴“The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend out fifteen hundred feet from the town wall.

⁵Outside the town, measure three thousand feet on the east side, three thousand on the south side, three thousand on the west and three thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.

⁶“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.

⁷In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands.

⁸The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”

⁹Then the Lord said to Moses:

¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,

¹¹select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.

¹²They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.

¹³These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.

¹⁴Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.

¹⁵These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

¹⁶” ‘If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

¹⁷Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

¹⁸Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

¹⁹The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

²⁰If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies

²¹or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²” ‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally

²³or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him,

²⁴the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.

²⁵The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶” ‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled

²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.

²⁸The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.

²⁹” ‘These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.

³⁰” ‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹” ‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.

³²” ‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

³³” ‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

³⁴Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord , dwell among the Israelites.’ “

36The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families.

²They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

³Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away.

⁴When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our forefathers.”

⁵Then at the Lord ‘s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right.

⁶This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their father.

⁷No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers.

⁸Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.

⁹No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

¹⁰So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹¹Zelophehad’s daughters-Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah-married their cousins on their father’s side.

¹²They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s clan and tribe.

¹³These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 33-34

33Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

²At the Lord ‘s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:

³The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out boldly in full view of all the Egyptians,

⁴who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods.

⁵The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Succoth.

⁶They left Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert.

⁷They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol.

⁸They left Pi Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the desert, and when they had traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.

⁹They left Marah and went to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

¹⁰They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

¹¹They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

¹²They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

¹³They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.

¹⁶They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

¹⁷They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

²⁰They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²²They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸They left Terah and camped at Mithcah.

²⁹They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

³²They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

³³They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

³⁶They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.

³⁷They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.

³⁸At the Lord ‘s command Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor, where he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.

³⁹Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴²They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

⁴⁴They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.

⁴⁵They left Iyim and camped at Dibon Gad.

⁴⁶They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

⁴⁷They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.

⁴⁸They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

⁴⁹There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.

⁵⁰On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses,

⁵¹“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,

⁵²drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

⁵³Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

⁵⁴Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.

⁵⁵” ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

⁵⁶And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’ “

34The Lord said to Moses,

²“Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries:

³” ‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern boundary will start from the end of the Salt Sea,

⁴cross south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,

⁵where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea.

⁶” ‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.

⁷” ‘For your northern boundary, run a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor

⁸and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad,

⁹continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

¹⁰” ‘For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham.

¹¹The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Kinnereth.

¹²Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. ” ‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’ “

¹³Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot as an inheritance. The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes,

¹⁴because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.

¹⁵These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses,

¹⁷“These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

¹⁸And appoint one leader from each tribe to help assign the land.

¹⁹These are their names: Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah;

²⁰Shemuel son of Ammihud, from the tribe of Simeon;

²¹Elidad son of Kislon, from the tribe of Benjamin;

²²Bukki son of Jogli, the leader from the tribe of Dan;

²³Hanniel son of Ephod, the leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;

²⁴Kemuel son of Shiphtan, the leader from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph;

²⁵Elizaphan son of Parnach, the leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

²⁶Paltiel son of Azzan, the leader from the tribe of Issachar;

²⁷Ahihud son of Shelomi, the leader from the tribe of Asher;

²⁸Pedahel son of Ammihud, the leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”

²⁹These are the men the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 31-32

31The Lord said to Moses,

²“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the Lord ‘s vengeance on them.

⁴Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.”

⁵So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel.

⁶Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

⁷They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man.

⁸Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba-the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.

¹⁰They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.

¹¹They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,

¹²and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

¹³Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

¹⁴Moses was angry with the officers of the army-the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds-who returned from the battle.

¹⁵“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them.

¹⁶“They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord ‘s people.

¹⁷Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,

¹⁸but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

¹⁹“All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives.

²⁰Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the requirement of the law that the Lord gave Moses:

²²Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead

²³and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.

²⁴On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.”

²⁵The Lord said to Moses,

²⁶“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured.

²⁷Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community.

²⁸From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats.

²⁹Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord ‘s part.

³⁰From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord ‘s tabernacle.”

³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³²The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep,

³³72,000 cattle,

³⁴61,000 donkeys

³⁵and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

³⁶The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep,

³⁷of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;

³⁸36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;

³⁹30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;

⁴⁰16,000 people, of which the tribute for the Lord was 32.

⁴¹Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord ‘s part, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴²The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men-

⁴³the community’s half-was 337,500 sheep,

⁴⁴36,000 cattle,

⁴⁵30,500 donkeys

⁴⁶and 16,000 people.

⁴⁷From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty persons and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord ‘s tabernacle.

⁴⁸Then the officers who were over the units of the army-the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds-went to Moses

⁴⁹and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.

⁵⁰So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired-armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces-to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord .”

⁵¹Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold-all the crafted articles.

⁵²All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.

⁵³Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.

⁵⁴Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord .

32The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock.

²So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and said,

³“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon-

⁴the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel-are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock.

⁵If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

⁶Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here?

⁷Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them?

⁸This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land.

⁹After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them.

¹⁰The Lord ‘s anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath:

¹¹‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-

¹²not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’

¹³The Lord ‘s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

¹⁴“And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel.

¹⁵If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the desert, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

¹⁶Then they came up to him and said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children.

¹⁷But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance.

¹⁹We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”

²⁰Then Moses said to them, “If you will do this-if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle,

²¹and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him-

²²then when the land is subdued before the Lord , you may return and be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord .

²³“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord ; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

²⁴Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

²⁵The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “We your servants will do as our lord commands.

²⁶Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead.

²⁷But your servants, every man armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the Lord , just as our lord says.”

²⁸Then Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and to the family heads of the Israelite tribes.

²⁹He said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites, every man armed for battle, cross over the Jordan with you before the Lord , then when the land is subdued before you, give them the land of Gilead as their possession.

³⁰But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must accept their possession with you in Canaan.”

³¹The Gadites and Reubenites answered, “Your servants will do what the Lord has said.

³²We will cross over before the Lord into Canaan armed, but the property we inherit will be on this side of the Jordan.”

³³Then Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan-the whole land with its cities and the territory around them.

³⁴The Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

³⁵Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

³⁶Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran as fortified cities, and built pens for their flocks.

³⁷And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh and Kiriathaim,

³⁸as well as Nebo and Baal Meon (these names were changed) and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

³⁹The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it and drove out the Amorites who were there.

⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to the Makirites, the descendants of Manasseh, and they settled there.

⁴¹Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, captured their settlements and called them Havvoth Jair.

⁴²And Nobah captured Kenath and its surrounding settlements and called it Nobah after himself.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 28-30

28The Lord said to Moses,

²“Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: ‘See that you present to me at the appointed time the food for my offerings made by fire, as an aroma pleasing to me.’

³Say to them: ‘This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the Lord : two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day.

⁴Prepare one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight,

⁵together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives.

⁶This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire.

⁷The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the Lord at the sanctuary.

⁸Prepare the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you prepare in the morning. This is an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord .

⁹” ‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil.

¹⁰This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹¹” ‘On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

¹²With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil;

¹³and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire.

¹⁴With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin ; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year.

¹⁵Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the Lord as a sin offering.

¹⁶” ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord ‘s Passover is to be held.

¹⁷On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast.

¹⁸On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

¹⁹Present to the Lord an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

²⁰With each bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;

²¹and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

²²Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.

²³Prepare these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering.

²⁴In this way prepare the food for the offering made by fire every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the Lord ; it is to be prepared in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

²⁵On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

²⁶” ‘On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the Lord an offering of new grain during the Feast of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

²⁷Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the Lord .

²⁸With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;

²⁹and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

³⁰Include one male goat to make atonement for you.

³¹Prepare these together with their drink offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.

29” ‘On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.

²As an aroma pleasing to the Lord , prepare a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

³With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths ;

⁴and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

⁵Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.

⁶These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are offerings made to the Lord by fire-a pleasing aroma.

⁷” ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.

⁸Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

⁹With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;

¹⁰and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

¹¹Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

¹²” ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days.

¹³Present an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the Lord , a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

¹⁴With each of the thirteen bulls prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with each of the two rams, two-tenths;

¹⁵and with each of the fourteen lambs, one-tenth.

¹⁶Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

¹⁷” ‘On the second day prepare twelve young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

¹⁸With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

¹⁹Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰” ‘On the third day prepare eleven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

²¹With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

²²Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

²³” ‘On the fourth day prepare ten bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

²⁴With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

²⁵Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

²⁶” ‘On the fifth day prepare nine bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

²⁷With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

²⁸Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

²⁹” ‘On the sixth day prepare eight bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

³⁰With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

³¹Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

³²” ‘On the seventh day prepare seven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

³³With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

³⁴Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

³⁵” ‘On the eighth day hold an assembly and do no regular work.

³⁶Present an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the Lord , a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

³⁷With the bull, the ram and the lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

³⁸Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

³⁹” ‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, prepare these for the Lord at your appointed feasts: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings. ‘ “

⁴⁰Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord commanded him.

30Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the Lord commands:

²When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.

³“When a young woman still living in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge

⁴and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.

⁵But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

⁶“If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself

⁷and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand.

⁸But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.

⁹“Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

¹⁰“If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath

¹¹and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand.

¹²But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her.

¹³Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.

¹⁴But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them.

¹⁵If, however, he nullifies them some time after he hears about them, then he is responsible for her guilt.”

¹⁶These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living in his house.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 26-27

26After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest,

²“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families-all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel.”

³So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said,

⁴“Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the Lord commanded Moses.” These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

⁵The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were: through Hanoch, the Hanochite clan; through Pallu, the Palluite clan;

⁶through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Carmi, the Carmite clan.

⁷These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.

⁸The son of Pallu was Eliab,

⁹and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah’s followers when they rebelled against the Lord .

¹⁰The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign.

¹¹The line of Korah, however, did not die out.

¹²The descendants of Simeon by their clans were: through Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; through Jamin, the Jaminite clan; through Jakin, the Jakinite clan;

¹³through Zerah, the Zerahite clan; through Shaul, the Shaulite clan.

¹⁴These were the clans of Simeon; there were 22,200 men.

¹⁵The descendants of Gad by their clans were: through Zephon, the Zephonite clan; through Haggi, the Haggite clan; through Shuni, the Shunite clan;

¹⁶through Ozni, the Oznite clan; through Eri, the Erite clan;

¹⁷through Arodi, the Arodite clan; through Areli, the Arelite clan.

¹⁸These were the clans of Gad; those numbered were 40,500.

¹⁹Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan.

²⁰The descendants of Judah by their clans were: through Shelah, the Shelanite clan; through Perez, the Perezite clan; through Zerah, the Zerahite clan.

²¹The descendants of Perez were: through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Hamul, the Hamulite clan.

²²These were the clans of Judah; those numbered were 76,500.

²³The descendants of Issachar by their clans were: through Tola, the Tolaite clan; through Puah, the Puite clan;

²⁴through Jashub, the Jashubite clan; through Shimron, the Shimronite clan.

²⁵These were the clans of Issachar; those numbered were 64,300.

²⁶The descendants of Zebulun by their clans were: through Sered, the Seredite clan; through Elon, the Elonite clan; through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.

²⁷These were the clans of Zebulun; those numbered were 60,500.

²⁸The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were:

²⁹The descendants of Manasseh: through Makir, the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead); through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.

³⁰These were the descendants of Gilead: through Iezer, the Iezerite clan; through Helek, the Helekite clan;

³¹through Asriel, the Asrielite clan; through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;

³²through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan; through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.

³³(Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.)

³⁴These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.

³⁵These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; through Beker, the Bekerite clan; through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.

³⁶These were the descendants of Shuthelah: through Eran, the Eranite clan.

³⁷These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.

³⁸The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were: through Bela, the Belaite clan; through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;

³⁹through Shupham, the Shuphamite clan; through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.

⁴⁰The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were: through Ard, the Ardite clan; through Naaman, the Naamite clan.

⁴¹These were the clans of Benjamin; those numbered were 45,600.

⁴²These were the descendants of Dan by their clans: through Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These were the clans of Dan:

⁴³All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.

⁴⁴The descendants of Asher by their clans were: through Imnah, the Imnite clan; through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan; through Beriah, the Beriite clan;

⁴⁵and through the descendants of Beriah: through Heber, the Heberite clan; through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.

⁴⁶(Asher had a daughter named Serah.)

⁴⁷These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53,400.

⁴⁸The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were: through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; through Guni, the Gunite clan;

⁴⁹through Jezer, the Jezerite clan; through Shillem, the Shillemite clan.

⁵⁰These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400.

⁵¹The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

⁵²The Lord said to Moses,

⁵³“The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.

⁵⁴To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.

⁵⁵Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe.

⁵⁶Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

⁵⁷These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan; through Kohath, the Kohathite clan; through Merari, the Merarite clan.

⁵⁸These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram;

⁵⁹the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.

⁶⁰Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

⁶¹But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire.)

⁶²All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.

⁶³These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

⁶⁴Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai.

⁶⁵For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

27The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They approached

²the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly, and said,

³“Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the Lord , but he died for his own sin and left no sons.

⁴Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

⁵So Moses brought their case before the Lord

⁶and the Lord said to him,

⁷“What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and turn their father’s inheritance over to them.

⁸“Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter.

⁹If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers.

¹⁰If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.

¹¹If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to be a legal requirement for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.’ “

¹²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites.

¹³After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,

¹⁴for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

¹⁵Moses said to the Lord ,

¹⁶“May the Lord , the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community

¹⁷to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord ‘s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.

¹⁹Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.

²⁰Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.

²¹He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord . At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

²²Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.

²³Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 23-25

23Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

²Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.

⁴God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

⁵The Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this message.”

⁶So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the princes of Moab.

⁷Then Balaam uttered his oracle: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’

⁸How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?

⁹From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.

¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!”

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”

¹²He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”

¹⁶The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this message.”

¹⁷So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”

¹⁸Then he uttered his oracle: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

²⁰I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

²¹“No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.

²²God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.

²³There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’

²⁴The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

²⁶Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”

²⁸And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

²⁹Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

³⁰Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

24Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times, but turned his face toward the desert.

²When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him

³and he uttered his oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,

⁴the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

⁵“How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!

⁶“Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord , like cedars beside the waters.

⁷Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water. “Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted.

⁸“God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. They devour hostile nations and break their bones in pieces; with their arrows they pierce them.

⁹Like a lion they crouch and lie down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse them? “May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!”

¹⁰Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times.

¹¹Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”

¹²Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,

¹³‘Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord -and I must say only what the Lord says’?

¹⁴Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”

¹⁵Then he uttered his oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,

¹⁶the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

¹⁷“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong.

¹⁹A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.”

²⁰Then Balaam saw Amalek and uttered his oracle: “Amalek was first among the nations, but he will come to ruin at last.”

²¹Then he saw the Kenites and uttered his oracle: “Your dwelling place is secure, your nest is set in a rock;

²²yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.”

²³Then he uttered his oracle: “Ah, who can live when God does this?

²⁴Ships will come from the shores of Kittim; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin.”

²⁵Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went his own way.

25While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women,

²who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods.

³So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the Lord ‘s anger burned against them.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord , so that the Lord ‘s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor.”

⁶Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁷When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand

⁸and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them-through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;

⁹but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses,

¹¹“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.

¹²Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him.

¹³He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

¹⁴The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.

¹⁵And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses,

¹⁷“Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them,

¹⁸because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor.”

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 21-22

21When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them.

²Then Israel made this vow to the Lord : “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities.”

³The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.

⁴They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;

⁵they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

⁶Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.

⁷The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”

⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

¹⁰The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.

¹¹Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise.

¹²From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.

¹³They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says: “?Waheb in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon

¹⁵and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

¹⁶From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing about it,

¹⁸about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank- the nobles with scepters and staffs.” Then they went from the desert to Mattanah,

¹⁹from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

²¹Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:

²²“Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king’s highway until we have passed through your territory.”

²³But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel.

²⁴Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified.

²⁵Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements.

²⁶Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

²⁷That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt; let Sihon’s city be restored.

²⁸“Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon’s heights.

²⁹Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰“But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba.”

³¹So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

³²After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.

³⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”

³⁵So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.

22Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.

²Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,

³and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

⁴The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,

⁵sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land. Balak said: “A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.

⁶Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”

⁷The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

⁸“Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I will bring you back the answer the Lord gives me.” So the Moabite princes stayed with him.

⁹God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

¹¹‘A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight them and drive them away.’ “

¹²But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”

¹³The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first.

¹⁶They came to Balaam and said: “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me,

¹⁷because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.”

¹⁸But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.

¹⁹Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the Lord will tell me.”

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”

²¹Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

²²But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

²³When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

²⁴Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides.

²⁵When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord , she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her again.

²⁶Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.

²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord , she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.

²⁸Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

²⁹Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said.

³¹Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

³²The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.

³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.”

³⁴Balaam said to the angel of the Lord , “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

³⁵The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory.

³⁷Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?”

³⁸“Well, I have come to you now,” Balaam replied. “But can I say just anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.”

³⁹Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth.

⁴⁰Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and gave some to Balaam and the princes who were with him.

⁴¹The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he saw part of the people.

Welcome to the 2023 King Street Church Bible Reading Plan.  This year we will be following a chronological plan.

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

 

In this passage…

Numbers 18-20

18The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your father’s family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood.

²Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony.

³They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the Tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.

⁴They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the Tent of Meeting-all the work at the Tent-and no one else may come near where you are.

⁵“You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.

⁶I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the Tent of Meeting.

⁷But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share.

⁹You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

¹⁰Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.

¹¹“This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

¹²“I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest.

¹³All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

¹⁴“Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours.

¹⁵The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.

¹⁶When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.

¹⁷“But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord .

¹⁸Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours.

¹⁹Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”

²⁰The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.

²¹“I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting.

²²From now on the Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die.

²³It is the Levites who are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting and bear the responsibility for offenses against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites.

²⁴Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord . That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’ “

²⁵The Lord said to Moses,

²⁶“Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord ‘s offering.

²⁷Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.

²⁸In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord ‘s portion to Aaron the priest.

²⁹You must present as the Lord ‘s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’

³⁰“Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress.

³¹You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting.

³²By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.’ “

19The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

²“This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.

³Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

⁴Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.

⁵While he watches, the heifer is to be burned-its hide, flesh, blood and offal.

⁶The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.

⁷After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening.

⁸The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

⁹“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.

¹⁰The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.

¹¹“Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.

¹²He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.

¹³Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the Lord ‘s tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

¹⁴“This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days,

¹⁵and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.

¹⁶“Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

¹⁷“For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them.

¹⁸Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death.

¹⁹The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean.

²⁰But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord . The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean.

²¹This is a lasting ordinance for them. “The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.

²²Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

20In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

²Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.

³They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord !

⁴Why did you bring the Lord ‘s community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here?

⁵Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

⁶Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

⁷The Lord said to Moses,

⁸“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from the Lord ‘s presence, just as he commanded him.

¹⁰He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

¹³These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he showed himself holy among them.

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us.

¹⁵Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

¹⁶but when we cried out to the Lord , he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. “Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.

¹⁷Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king’s highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

¹⁸But Edom answered: “You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”

¹⁹The Israelites replied: “We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot-nothing else.”

²⁰Again they answered: “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army.

²¹Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.

²²The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.

²³At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

²⁴“Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.

²⁶Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.”

²⁷Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.

²⁸Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,

²⁹and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.