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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
March 19 - Old & New Testament
niv
Numbers 23,24,25
Balaam's First Message
1 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams(a) for me." 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(b)
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me.(c) Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height.
4 God met with him,(d) and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram."
5 The Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth(e) and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word."(f)
6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.(g) 7 Then Balaam(h) spoke his message:(i)
"Balak brought me from Aram,(j)
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.(k)
‘Come,' he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.'(l)
8 How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?(m)
How can I denounce
those whom the
Lord
has not denounced?(n)
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.(o)
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations.(p)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob(q)
or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,(r)
and may my final end be like theirs!(s)"
11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,(t) but you have done nothing but bless them!"(u)
12 He answered, "Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?"(v)
Balaam's Second Message
13 Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place(w) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.(x) And from there, curse them for me.(y)" 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,(z) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(aa)
15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there."
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth(ab) and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word."
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.(ac) Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"
18 Then he spoke his message:(ad)
"Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.(ae)
19 God is not human,(af) that he should lie,(ag)
not a human being, that he should change his mind.(ah)
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise(ai) and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;(aj)
he has blessed,(ak) and I cannot change it.(al)
21 "No misfortune is seen in Jacob,(am)
no misery observed[a] in Israel.(an)
The
Lord
their God is with them;(ao)
the shout of the King(ap) is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;(aq)
they have the strength of a wild ox.(ar)
23 There is no divination against[b] Jacob,
no evil omens(as) against[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!'
24 The people rise like a lioness;(at)
they rouse themselves like a lion(au)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood(av) of its victims."
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
26 Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?"(aw)
Balaam's Third Message
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place.(ax) Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me(ay) from there." 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor,(az) overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(ba)
1 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,(a) he did not resort to divination(b) as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness.(c) 2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him(d) 3 and he spoke his message:
"The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,(e)
4 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,(f)
who sees a vision from the Almighty,[a](g)
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
5 "How beautiful are your tents,(h) Jacob,
your dwelling places, Israel!
6 "Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,(i)
like aloes(j) planted by the
Lord
,
like cedars beside the waters.(k)
7 Water will flow from their buckets;
their seed will have abundant water.
"Their king will be greater than Agag;(l)
their kingdom will be exalted.(m)
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;(n)
with their arrows they pierce them.(o)
9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness(p)—who dares to rouse them?
"May those who bless you be blessed(q)
and those who curse you be cursed!"(r)
10 Then Balak's anger burned(s) against Balaam. He struck his hands together(t) and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies,(u) but you have blessed them(v) these three times.(w) 11 Now leave at once and go home!(x) I said I would reward you handsomely,(y) but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded."
12 Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,(z) 13 ‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord (aa)—and I must say only what the Lord says'?(ab) 14 Now 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."(ac)
Balaam's Fourth Message
15 Then he spoke his message:
"The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,
16 the prophecy of one who hears the words(ad) of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,(ae)
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.(af)
A star will come out of Jacob;(ag)
a scepter will rise out of Israel.(ah)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,(ai)
the skulls[b](aj) of[c] all the people of Sheth.[d]
18 Edom(ak) will be conquered;
Seir,(al) his enemy, will be conquered,(am)
but Israel(an) will grow strong.
19 A ruler will come out of Jacob(ao)
and destroy the survivors of the city."
Balaam's Fifth Message
20 Then Balaam saw Amalek(ap) and spoke his message:
"Amalek was first among the nations,
but their end will be utter destruction."(aq)
Balaam's Sixth Message
21 Then he saw the Kenites(ar) and spoke his message:
"Your dwelling place is secure,(as)
your nest is set in a rock;
22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed
when Ashur(at) takes you captive."
Balaam's Seventh Message
23 Then he spoke his message:
"Alas! Who can live when God does this?[e]
24
Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus;(au)
they will subdue Ashur(av) and Eber,(aw)
but they too will come to ruin.(ax)"
25 Then Balaam(ay) got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.
Moab Seduces Israel
1 While Israel was staying in Shittim,(a) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality(b) with Moabite(c) women,(d) 2 who invited them to the sacrifices(e) to their gods.(f) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to(g) the Baal of Peor.(h) And the Lord 's anger burned against them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders(i) of these people, kill them and expose(j) them in broad daylight before the Lord ,(k) so that the Lord 's fierce anger(l) may turn away from Israel."
5 So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death(m) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor."(n)
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite(o) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping(p) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas(q) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear(r) in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;(s) 9 but those who died in the plague(t) numbered 24,000.(u)
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites.(v) Since he was as zealous for my honor(w) among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace(x) with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,(y) because he was zealous(z) for the honor(aa) of his God and made atonement(ab) for the Israelites."(ac)
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman(ad) was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.(ae) 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi(af) daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.(ag)
16 The Lord said to Moses,(ah) 17 "Treat the Midianites(ai) as enemies(aj) and kill them.(ak) 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident(al) involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident."
Mark 16
Chapter 16
Jesus Has Risen(a)
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices(b) so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"(c)
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe(d) sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,(e) who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him,(f) just as he told you.'"(g)
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[a]
[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,(h) out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.(i)
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.(j) 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.(k)
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.(l) 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.(m) 17 And these signs(n) will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons;(o) they will speak in new tongues;(p) 18 they will pick up snakes(q) with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on(r) sick people, and they will get well."
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven(s) and he sat at the right hand of God.(t) 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs(u) that accompanied it.
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