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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
March 30 - Bible-in-a-Year
niv
Numbers 25-27
Chapter 25
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."
Chapter 26
The Second Census
1 After the plague(a) the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, 2 "Take a census(b) of the whole Israelite community by families—all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army(c) of Israel." 3 So on the plains of Moab(d) by the Jordan across from Jericho,(e) 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:(f)
5 The descendants of Reuben,(g) the firstborn son of Israel, were:
through Hanok,(h) the Hanokite clan;
through Pallu,(i) the Palluite clan;
6 through Hezron,(j) the Hezronite clan;
through Karmi,(k) the Karmite clan.
7 These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.
8 The son of Pallu was Eliab, 9 and the sons of Eliab(l) were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community(m) officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah's followers when they rebelled against the Lord .(n) 10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them(o) along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men.(p) And they served as a warning sign.(q) 11 The line of Korah,(r) however, did not die out.(s)
12 The descendants of Simeon by their clans were:
through Nemuel,(t) the Nemuelite clan;
through Jamin,(u) the Jaminite clan;
through Jakin, the Jakinite clan;
13 through Zerah,(v) the Zerahite clan;
through Shaul, the Shaulite clan.
14 These were the clans of Simeon;(w) those numbered were 22,200.(x)
15 The descendants of Gad by their clans were:
through Zephon,(y) the Zephonite clan;
through Haggi, the Haggite clan;
through Shuni, the Shunite clan;
16 through Ozni, the Oznite clan;
through Eri, the Erite clan;
17 through Arodi,[a] the Arodite clan;
through Areli, the Arelite clan.
18 These were the clans of Gad;(z) those numbered were 40,500.
19 Er(aa) and Onan(ab) were sons of Judah, but they died(ac) in Canaan.
20 The descendants of Judah by their clans were:
through Shelah,(ad) the Shelanite clan;
through Perez,(ae) the Perezite clan;
through Zerah, the Zerahite clan.(af)
21 The descendants of Perez(ag) were:
through Hezron,(ah) the Hezronite clan;
through Hamul, the Hamulite clan.
22 These were the clans of Judah;(ai) those numbered were 76,500.
23 The descendants of Issachar by their clans were:
through Tola,(aj) the Tolaite clan;
through Puah, the Puite[b] clan;
24 through Jashub,(ak) the Jashubite clan;
through Shimron, the Shimronite clan.
25 These were the clans of Issachar;(al) those numbered were 64,300.
26 The descendants of Zebulun(am) by their clans were:
through Sered, the Seredite clan;
through Elon, the Elonite clan;
through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.
27 These were the clans of Zebulun;(an) those numbered were 60,500.
28 The descendants of Joseph(ao) by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim(ap) were:
29 The descendants of Manasseh:(aq)
through Makir,(ar) the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead(as));
through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.
30 These were the descendants of Gilead:(at)
through Iezer,(au) the Iezerite clan;
through Helek, the Helekite clan;
31 through Asriel, the Asrielite clan;
through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;
32 through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan;
through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.
33 (Zelophehad(av) son of Hepher had no sons;(aw) he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah.)(ax)
34 These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.(ay)
35 These were the descendants of Ephraim(az) by their clans:
through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan;
through Beker, the Bekerite clan;
through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.
36 These were the descendants of Shuthelah:
through Eran, the Eranite clan.
37 These were the clans of Ephraim;(ba) those numbered were 32,500.
These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.
38 The descendants of Benjamin(bb) by their clans were:
through Bela, the Belaite clan;
through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan;
through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;
39 through Shupham,[c] the Shuphamite clan;
through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.
40 The descendants of Bela through Ard(bc) and Naaman were:
through Ard,[d] the Ardite clan;
through Naaman, the Naamite clan.
41 These were the clans of Benjamin;(bd) those numbered were 45,600.
42 These were the descendants of Dan(be) by their clans:(bf)
through Shuham,(bg) the Shuhamite clan.
These were the clans of Dan: 43 All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.
44 The descendants of Asher(bh) by their clans were:
through Imnah, the Imnite clan;
through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan;
through Beriah, the Beriite clan;
45 and through the descendants of Beriah:
through Heber, the Heberite clan;
through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.
46 (Asher had a daughter named Serah.)
47 These were the clans of Asher;(bi) those numbered were 53,400.
48 The descendants of Naphtali(bj) by their clans were:
through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan;
through Guni, the Gunite clan;
49 through Jezer, the Jezerite clan;
through Shillem, the Shillemite clan.
50 These were the clans of Naphtali;(bk) those numbered were 45,400.(bl)
51 The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.(bm)
52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 "The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.(bn) 54 To 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(bo) of those listed.(bp) 55 Be sure that the land is distributed by lot.(bq) What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe. 56 Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups."
57 These were the Levites(br) who were counted by their clans:
through Gershon, the Gershonite clan;
through Kohath, the Kohathite clan;
through Merari, the Merarite clan.
58 These 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;(bs) 59 the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed,(bt) a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites[e] in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses(bu) and their sister(bv) Miriam.(bw) 60 Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.(bx) 61 But Nadab and Abihu(by) died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire.)(bz)
62 All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000.(ca) They were not counted(cb) along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance(cc) among them.(cd)
63 These are the ones counted(ce) by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab(cf) by the Jordan across from Jericho.(cg) 64 Not one of them was among those counted(ch) by Moses and Aaron(ci) the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness,(cj) and not one of them was left except Caleb(ck) son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.(cl)
Chapter 27
Zelophehad's Daughters(a)
1 The daughters of Zelophehad(b) son of Hepher,(c) the son of Gilead,(d) the son of Makir,(e) the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. They came forward 2 and stood before Moses,(f) Eleazar the priest, the leaders(g) and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting(h) and said, 3 "Our father died in the wilderness.(i) He was not among Korah's followers, who banded together against the Lord ,(j) but he died for his own sin and left no sons.(k) 4 Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father's relatives."
5 So Moses brought their case(l) before the Lord ,(m) 6 and the Lord said to him, 7 "What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance(n) among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them.(o)
8 "Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to have the force of law(p) for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.'"
Joshua to Succeed Moses
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go up this mountain(q) in the Abarim Range(r) and see the land(s) I have given the Israelites.(t) 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people,(u) as your brother Aaron(v) was, 14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin,(w) both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy(x) before their eyes." (These were the waters of Meribah(y) Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)
15 Moses said to the Lord , 16 "May the Lord , the God who gives breath to all living things,(z) appoint someone over this community 17 to 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."(aa)
18 So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership,[a](ab) and lay your hand on him.(ac) 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him(ad) in their presence.(ae) 20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.(af) 21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring(ag) of the Urim(ah) 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."
22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him,(ai) as the Lord instructed through Moses.
Song of Solomon 6:4-8:4
Chapter 6
He
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah,(h) my darling,
as lovely as Jerusalem,(i)
as majestic as troops with banners.(j)
5 Turn your eyes from me;
they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Gilead.(k)
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
not one of them is missing.(l)
7 Your temples behind your veil(m)
are like the halves of a pomegranate.(n)
8 Sixty queens(o) there may be,
and eighty concubines,(p)
and virgins beyond number;
9 but my dove,(q) my perfect one,(r) is unique,
the only daughter of her mother,
the favorite of the one who bore her.(s)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines praised her.
Friends
10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?
He
11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.(t)
12 Before I realized it,
my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[a]
Friends
13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!
He
Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
as on the dance(u) of Mahanaim?[b]
Chapter 7
1 [a]How beautiful your sandaled feet,
O prince's(a) daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
the work of an artist's hands.
2 Your navel is a rounded goblet
that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
encircled by lilies.
3 Your breasts(b) are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.(c)
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon(d)
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon(e)
looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.(f)
Your hair is like royal tapestry;
the king is held captive by its tresses.
6 How beautiful(g) you are and how pleasing,
my love, with your delights!(h)
7 Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts(i) like clusters of fruit.
8 I said, "I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit."
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,(j)
9
and your mouth like the best wine.
She
May the wine go straight to my beloved,(k)
flowing gently over lips and teeth.[b]
10 I belong to my beloved,
and his desire(l) is for me.(m)
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.[c]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards(n)
to see if the vines have budded,(o)
if their blossoms(p) have opened,
and if the pomegranates(q) are in bloom(r)—
there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes(s) send out their fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
that I have stored up for you, my beloved.(t)
Chapter 8
1 If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother's breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother's house(a)—
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.(b)
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.(c)
Matthew 24:1-31
Chapter 24
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times(a)
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;(b) every one will be thrown down."
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,(c) the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming(d) and of the end of the age?"(e)
4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.(f) 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many.(g) 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(h) There will be famines(i) and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted(j) and put to death,(k) and you will be hated by all nations because of me.(l) 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets(m) will appear and deceive many people.(n) 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.(o) 14 And this gospel of the kingdom(p) will be preached in the whole world(q) as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 "So when you see standing in the holy place(r) ‘the abomination that causes desolation,'[a](s) spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop(t) go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!(u) 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.(v)
22 "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect(w) those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!' or, ‘There he is!' do not believe it.(x) 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders(y) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 "So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as lightning(z) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming(aa) of the Son of Man.(ab) 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.(ac)
29 "Immediately after the distress of those days
"‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'[b](ad)
30 "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn(ae) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,(af) with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels(ag) with a loud trumpet call,(ah) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
