March 31: Judges 1:1 – Judges 3:30

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan – Judges 1 (A repeat of what happened in Joshua)

• Upon the death of Joshua, Israel asks God who will go first against the Canaanites to fight them. God tells them that the tribe of Judah will lead them, and Judah invites the tribe of Simeon to join them. Together they go against the Canaanites, and God gives them over to them. They find Adoni-bezek (a king), capture him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. He later dies in Jerusalem.
• Judah goes on to conquer several other cities in the area, including Jerusalem, Hebron, and Debir. Before they conquer Debir, Caleb promises to give his daughter Acsah to the man who attacks and conquers Kiriath-sepher. Othniel (son of Caleb's brother Kenaz) conquers the city and gets Acsah as a wife. She requests springs from her father, and he gives her them to go with the field he has already given her.
• Judah and Simeon capture other towns in Canaan. 

Failure to Complete the Conquest

• God is with the tribe of Judah, and they take possession of the country, but they fail to drive out the people living in the plains, who had chariots.
• The tribe of Benjamin fails to drive out the Jebusites in Jerusalem. They also attack Bethel, and kill all but one man and his family (he had showed them a way into the town). The man and his family build a new town in the land of the Hittites.
• The tribe of Manasseh fails to drive out the people living in several cities. The Israelites make the people of these towns their slaves.
• The tribe of Ephraim fails to drive out the people of Gezer, so the Canaanites there continue to live among them.
• The tribe of Zebulun fails to drive out the people living in Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites there continue to live among them.
• The tribe of Asher fails to drive out people from several cities. They move into the area and live among the peoples.
• The tribe of Naphtali fails to drive out the people in two cites and move in to live among them.
• The tribe of Dan is pushed back into the hill country by the Amorites, but the descendants of Joseph increase their strength and make the Amorites their slaves.

Israel's Disobedience – Judges 2

• The angel of the Lord tells the people that they have been disobedient to God by not driving the Canaanites out of the land as He instructed. He tells the Israelites that these people will now be thorns in their sides. The people lift up their voices and weep, then sacrifice to the Lord.

The Death of Joshua

• Joshua dies at the age of 110 years, and Israel buries him in Timnath-heres. All of the other people of this generation die, and the generation afterward does not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness

• The Israelites serve the Baals, abandoning God. They go after other gods, provoking the Lord to anger. God gives them over to plunderers.

The Lord Raises Up Judges – Judges 2 & 3

• God raises up judges who save them from the hands of those who plunder them. But Israel does not listen to the judges. Whenever He raises up a judge, He is with the judge, and the judge saved the people from their enemies. The people return to their evil ways after the judge dies, and God decides he will no longer drive out any nations from among them.
• The five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites that live on Mount Lebanon remain in the land. Israel now lives among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They marry with these people and worship their gods.

Othniel

• God is angered, and He sells them into the hand of the king of Mesopotamia, who they serve for eight years.
• Israel cries out for a deliverer, and God raises up Othniel, the son of Kenaz (Caleb's younger brother). The Spirit of God is on him, and he goes to war against the king of Mesopotamia, who he conquers. Israel rests in the land for forty years, then Othniel dies.

Ehud

• Israel again does what is evil in God's sight, and God strengthens the king of Moab, who along with the Ammonites and Amalekites, defeats Israel. The people of Israel serve the king of Moab for eighteen years.
• Israel again cries out for a deliverer, and God raises up Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite. Ehud makes a double-edged sword and binds it to his thigh under his clothes, then goes to the king of Moab, who is quite overweight. After presenting a tribute to the king, he sends everyone else away from the roof chamber and tells the king that he has a message for him from God. He gets up from his seat and thrusts his sword into the king, all the way to its hilt, then closes and locks the doors as he leaves.
• The king's men find the doors locked and think he is relieving himself, but after a while, they open the doors with the key and find the king dead.
• Ehud escapes into the hill country of Ephraim, sounding the trumpet. The people of Israel go with him to war against the Moabites, subduing it, and Israel rests for eight years.

March 30: Joshua 22:1 – Joshua 24:33

The Eastern Tribes Return Home – Joshua 22

• Joshua calls to himself the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh and tells them that they have fulfilled their duties to the tribes now west of the Jordan. He instructs them to return to their lands and to remember all of God's statutes. Joshua blesses them and sends them home. The tribes return home.

The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness

• When the Gadites, Reubenites, and half tribe of Manasseh return home, they build a large altar on the western shore of the Jordan. When the people of Israel on the western side see it, they meet at Shiloh to plan to go to war against them (misunderstanding the purpose of the altar). They send Phinehas (son of Eleazar the priest) as well as ten other men to the three tribes, who question them about the "breach of faith" they have committed against God and remind them of the breaches of faith in the past.
• The people of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh proclaim that if they did this as a breach of faith, may the Lord not spare them. They claim that they build the altar in fear of the Lord and so their children would see it and worship Him—an altar of witness.
• Phinehas and the ten men return to the other tribes of Israel and report what they learned. The people bless God, and the tribes of Reuben and Gad call the altar "Witness."

Joshua's Charge to Israel's Leaders – Joshua 23

• A long time afterward, after God had given Israel rest from their surrounding enemies, Joshua (who is now old) summons all Israel. He tells them that he is advanced in age and that God has given them what he promised, and tells them to keep all the statutes listed in the Book of the Law of Moses. They are not to mix with other nations or worship their gods. He exhorts them to love the Lord, and then tells them that he will soon die. He again warns them not to serve or bow down to other gods.

The Covenant Renewed at Shechem – Joshua 24

• Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summons the elders, heads, judges, and officers. Joshua reminds them how God gave Abraham Canaan, and Isaac and Jacob and Esau lived there. Then Jacob and his children went to Egypt (by way of Joseph's selling into slavery), until He brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Joshua goes on to recount how God finally brought them to the Promised Land and drove out all the people there. God gave them land that they had not labored and cites that they hadn't built.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

• Joshua exorts Israel to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness. The people respond that far be it from them that they would forsake Him and worship other gods, because of all He has done for them.
• Joshua reminds Israel that they are witnesses that they have chosen to choose God and tells them to put away the foreign gods among them and incline their hearts to God. He makes a covenant with the people and writes this in the Book of the Law of God, then sends the people back to their homes.

Joshua's Death and Burial

• Joshua dies, being 110 years old. The people bury him in his own inheritance in Timnah-serah. Israel has served the Lord throughout Joshua's time as leader. 
• The people bury the bones of Joseph, brought from Egypt, in Shechem, on the piece of land that Jacob had bought from Hamor, the father of Shechem.
• Eleazar, the son of Aaron, dies, and they bury him at Gilbeah, the town of Phinehas his son.

March 29: Joshua 19:49 – Joshua 21:45; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81

The Inheritance for Joshua – Joshua 19:49–51

• Joshua is given his inheritance—the city of Timnath-serah in the hill country within the land of the tribe of Ephraim.

The Cities of Refuge – Joshua 20

• God tells Joshua to appoint cities of refuge, so there are places for men to flee if they kill another by accident.
• The towns of Kedesh, Shechem, Kiriath-arba (Hebron), Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan as cities of refuge.

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi – Joshua 21

• The heads of the Levites go to Joshua and Eleazar the priest and remind them that Moses said they would be given cities to dwell in and pasturelands around those cities. Through a casting of lots, the Levites are given their cities and pasturelands—forty-eight cities.
• God has given the Israelites the land He has promised to them, and they settle there.

Descendants of Levi – 1 Chronicles 6:54–81

• The cities and pasturelands allotted to Levi are repeated.

March 28: Joshua 18:1 – Joshua 19:48

Allotment of the Remaining Land – Joshua 18

• The rest of the Israelites gather at the tent of meeting set up in Shiloh. Joshua asks them when they are going to take up the lands God has promised them, and tells each tribe to select three men that he will send out to scout the lands.
• The men go and explore the land, mapping it out, then return to Joshua. Joshua casts sacred lots in the presence of the Lord to determine who will receive what lands.

The Inheritance for Benjamin 

• The land given to the tribe of Benjamin is described. It lies to the south of that of the tribe of Ephraim.

The Inheritance for Simeon – Joshua 19

• The land given to the tribe of Simeon is described. It lies west of the Dead Sea, a circle within the land given to the tribe of Judah.

The Inheritance for Zebulun

• The land given to the tribe of Zebulun is described. It lies west of the Sea of Galilee.

The Inheritance for Issachar

• The land given to the tribe of Issachar is described. It lies on the west side of the Jordan, south of that of the tribe of Zebulun.

The Inheritance for Asher

• The land given to the tribe of Asher is described. It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the other tribes' lands.

The Inheritance for Naphtali

• The land given to the tribe of Naphtali is described. It lies west of the Jordan River and east of the land of the tribe of Asher.

The Inheritance for Dan

• The land given to the tribe of Dan is described. It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the land of the tribe of Judah.

March 27: Joshua 15:20 – Joshua 17:18

The Allotment for Judah – Joshua 15

• The lands inherited by the tribe of Judah are described. The area is west of the Dead Sea and east of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Since the tribe could not drive out the Jebusites, they remained in Jerusalem.

The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh – Joshua 16 &17

• The lands inherited by the descendants of Joseph are described. The tribe of Ephraim receives land north of the Dead Sea, on the west side of the Jordan. Half of the tribe of Manasseh receives land north of the tribe of Ephraim's land (West Manasseh), while the other half receives land on the east side of the Jordan (East Manasseh).
• The tribe of Ephraim couldn't drive out the Canaanites, but they made them their slaves.

March 26: Joshua 12:7 – Joshua 15:19

Kings Defeated by Joshua – Joshua 12

• The thirty-one kings defeated by Joshua are listed.

Land Still to Be Conquered – Joshua 13

• Joshua is in advanced years. God points this out to him and tells him that there remains much land to possess. He lists the lands and promises that He will drive out the peoples there, and that Joshua is to divide the land among the tribes.

The Inheritance East of the Jordan

• Israel drives out all the people of the lands except for the Geshurites and Maacathites, who remain. The tribes of Israel receive their inheritance, with the exception of the tribe of Levi.
• The lands given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh are described.

The Inheritance West of the Jordan – Joshua 14

• The remaining tribes receive their inheritance from the lands to the east of the Jordan.

Caleb's Request and Inheritance

• Caleb goes to Joshua to request his inheritance, as promised by Moses. Joshua blesses him and gives him Hebron, formerly called Kiriath-aba. The land rests from war.

The Allotment for Judah – Joshua 15

• The land given to the tribe of Judah is described.
• The land given to Caleb is described.

March 25: Joshua 10:1 – 12:6

The Sun Stands Still – Joshua 10

• Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, learns that Joshua had captured and destroyed Ai, just as he had Jericho, and that he made peace with the Gibeonites. He and his people are afraid, so he sends messengers to other kings in the area, asking them to help him destroy Gibeon. All of the kings move their troops into place to attack.
• The men of Gibeon send messengers to Joshua, begging him to come protect them.
• Joshua and his army leave Gilgal for Gibeon. God tells Joshua not to fear, for He will give all of them over to him. The Israelites destroy the Amorite armies, some by the sword and others by a hail storm from God.
• Joshua prays that God would make the sun stand still over Gibeon and the moon over Aijalon. The sun and moon stand still until Israel had defeated all of its enemies.
• Joshua and the Israelites return to their camp at Gilgal.

Five Amorite Kings Executed

• During the fight, five kings escape and hide in a cave. When Joshua learns where they are, he tells his commanders to cover the openings of the caves with rocks and place guards there. Joshua and his troops continue the slaughter of their enemies, then return to the camp where the cave is. He has the men bring the kings to him, then put their feet on the kings' necks, and Joshua killed each one and had him impaled on a pole and hung until evening.
• That evening, Joshua tells the commanders to take the kings down, throw their bodies into the cave, and place stones in front of it.

Conquest of Southern Canaan 

• Joshua captures the town of Makkedah and kills everyone in it, including the king. He then moves on to Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir, conquering the entire region, then returns to Gilgal.

Conquests in Northern Canaan – Joshua 11

• When the kings of northern Canaan hear about what has happened, they gather together to fight Joshua and the Israelites. Despite their great number, God tells Joshua not to fear them. Joshua and his men attack, and God gives them victory, allowing him to conquer the entire region. He takes control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. The land rests from war.

Kings Defeated by Moses – Joshua 12

• The kings defeated by Moses are listed: King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. Their lands were given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

March 24: Joshua 7:1; 1 Chronicles 2:7; Joshua 7:2 – Joshua 9:27

Israel Defeated at Ai – Joshua 7:1–15; 1 Chronicles 2:7

• Achan, of the tribe of Judah, steals some of the devoted things, and God is angry at the Israelites.
• Joshua sends some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai. The warriors return and tell Joshua that it won't take more than two or three thousand men to attack them. Three thousand soldiers are sent, but Ai defeats them, which paralyzes the Israelites with fear.
• Joshua and the elders tear their clothes, throw dust on their heads, and fall on their faces before the ark of the covenant. Joshua asks God why He brought them across the Jordan if the Amorites were going to defeat them. He asks God what he will say to the people and what will happen to His great name.
• God tells Joshua to get up and goes on to explain that Israel has broken his covenant by stealing things that were set apart for Him. He instructs Joshua to get up and tell the people to purify themselves and that they will never win a battle until the set-apart things are returned. God then says the Israelites must present themselves in the morning, and He will point out the guilty clan. The man who stole the items is to be burned, along with all his belongings.

The Sin of Achan

• The next morning, all the tribes assemble and the tribe of Judah is singled out. Achan is shown to be the man who has stolen the items set apart for God. Joshua addressed him, and Achan admits that he took a robe from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold and buried them under his tent.
• Achan's tent is checked and the stolen items are found. Achan and all his belongings are taken to the valley of Achor, where he and his family were stoned and their belongings burned.

The Fall of Ai – Joshua 8

• God tells Joshua not to fear, and to take his men back to Ai to fight, because He will give them over to the Israelites as He did Jericho. This time they will keep the plunder and livestock for themselves.
• Joshua sends thirty thousand men. Five thousand will hide behind the town to ambush it. The other twenty-five thousand soldiers will attack the town and run away, and the people will chase them. The ambushing soldiers are then to take the town and burn it, and together the thirty thousand men attack the people of Ai. Only one person of Ai survives (the king) and he is brought to Joshua. Joshua impales the king on a sharpened pole and leaves him there until evening, when the Israelites took down his body, threw it in front of the town gate, and covered it with rocks.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

• Joshua builds an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal following God's commands to Moses on altar building. All the Israelites divide into two groups facing each other, and between them stands the Levitical priests and the ark of the covenant. Joshua reads to them the blessings and curses Moses wrote in the book of instruction.

The Gibeonite Deception – Joshua 9

• All the kings west of the Jordan hear about what happened to the people of Ai. When the people of Gibeon hear it, they turn to deception  to save themselves. They dress in old ragged clothing and bear dry and moldy bread when they greet the Israelites at Gilgal, and they tell Joshua that they've come from a distant land and wish a peace treaty.
• The Israelites question how they would know that they're not from the area, and the Gibeonites show them the bread and again insist they're from a far-off land. The Israelites examine the bread, but do not consult with God. Joshua makes a peace treaty with them, guaranteeing their safety.
• Three days later, Israel learns that the people were from nearby, and they set out to go to the towns. They cannot attack the towns, though, because they have made the treaty. They make the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers.
• Joshua questions the Gibeonites why they lied to them. They tell him that they knew God had given over the lands to Moses, so they feared for their lives. Joshua doesn't allow the people of Israel to kill them, instead making them servants of Israel.

March 23: Joshua 3:1 – Joshua 6:27

Israel Crosses the Jordan – Joshua 3

• Joshua and the Israelites set out from Shittim. They reach the Jordan, and after three days officers go through the camp and instruct the people that when the ark of the covenant is taken up by the Levites and carried, they are to follow, but they must stay 2000 cubits back from it.
• Joshua tells the people to consecrate themselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among them.
• God tells Joshua that He will exalt him in the sight of Israel, so they will know God is with him, just as He was with Moses. Joshua explains to the people that when feet of the Levites carrying the ark rest in the waters of the Jordan (which has overflowed its banks due to the rainy season), the river will stop flowing. This happens as proclaimed, and the people cross the Jordan on dry land.

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan – Joshua 4

• God tells Joshua to pick twelve men, one from each tribe, and have them each gather a stone from the Jordan River bed. They are then to lay the stones down where they lodge that night, and the stones are to be a memorial to the Hebrew people forever.
• The men do as instructed, and the Israelite people pass over. The tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh are all armed and ready for battle. The people stand in awe of Joshua, just as they did with Moses. The people cross the river bed in haste (on the tenth day of the first month), while the priests remain in the river bed.
• God commands Joshua to have the priests bearing the ark to come up out of the Jordan, and when they do, the waters again flow. The twelve stones are set up at Gilgal as a memorial.

The New Generation Circumcised – Joshua 5

• When the kings of the Amorites and the Canaanites hear about how the waters dried up so the Israelites could cross the Jordan, they lose their will to fight them.
• God instructs Joshua to make flint knives and circumcise all the men of Israel (all the males who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised, but their sons had not). God is raising up their children to take the place of their parents, who didn't obey God, so He wants them circumcised. The people remain encamped until all the men have healed, and God tells Joshua that He has rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them.

The Commander of the Lord's Arm

• When Joshua is passing by Jericho, he sees a man standing before him with a sword drawn. Joshua asks him if he is for Israel or for their enemies. The man claims he is the commander of the Lord's army, and Joshua falls on his face before him and asks the man what he says to his servant (Joshua), The man tells him to take off his sandals, for he is standing on holy ground. Joshua removes his sandals.

The Fall of Jericho – Joshua 6

• Jericho is shut up inside and outside because of the Israelites. God points out to Joshua that He has given Jericho over to him. All the men of war are to march around the city once a day for six days, and priests are to bear the ark of the covenant and ram horn trumpets. On the seventh day, they are to march around the city seven times, and on the seventh time, the priests will blow the trumpets. The people are to all shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat.
• Joshua instructs the people what to do, and they do it. Jericho is destroyed by the Israelites, and only Rahab and her family within her house are spared (and taken in by Israel). Except for the silver and gold, the entire city is burned.
• Joshua informs that people that if anyone tries to rebuild Jericho, they will be curse. The Lord is with Joshua, and his fame is in all the land.

March 22: Deuteronomy 33:1 – Deuteronomy 34:12; Joshua 1:1 – Joshua 2:24

Moses' Final Blessing on Israel – Deuteronomy 33

• In his final blessing on Israel, Moses individually blesses each tribe (with the exception of Simeon's tribe).

The Death of Moses – Deuteronomy 34

• Moses goes up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo (the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho). God shows him all of the Promised Land, which He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
• Moses dies, and is buried in the valley of Moab, his eyes "undimmed" and his vigor "unabated." The people weep for him for thirty days.
• The people of Israel now obey Joshua, who has been commissioned to lead them.

God Commissions Joshua – Joshua 1

• God tells Joshua that Moses has died and that he will lead the people into the land promised to them. He promises Joshua that He will be with him, and that he is to be strong and courageous because He will be with him wherever he goes.

Joshua Assumes Command

• Joshua tells the tribe leaders to have the people ready themselves to travel for three days. He tells the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that God has prepared a place for them and they are to stay there until they're commanded to move. The tribe agrees.

Rahab Hides the Spies – Joshua 2

• Joshua sends two spies to Shittim to view the land. They go there and stay in the house of Rahab, a prostitute.
• When the king of Jericho hears about this, he sends word to her to bring out the spies, but she tells him that the men came to her but then left, going out of the city gates around dark. She had hid the spies on the roof, and she goes to them and tells them that she knows God has given the land to the Hebrew people, as she has heard all that God has done for them.
• She asks the spies to deal kindly with her, since she has dealt kindly with them. The men promise, and she lets them down out of her house (on the city wall) by a rope. She tells them to hide in the hills for three days so the pursuers won't find them.
• The spies tell her to place a scarlet cord in the window that she let them out of, and to gather all her family into the house, then head into the hills. After three days they return to Joshua and tell him that surely the Lord has given the city over to them.

March 21: Deuteronomy 31:30 – Deuteronomy 32:52; Psalm 90

The Song of Moses – Deuteronomy 31:30–32:52

• Moses and Joshua teach the song God has given him to the Israelite people. In this song, he proclaims all that God has done for the Hebrew people and how He has continued to love them despite how they have gone against Him. He reminds the people how God turned away from them due to their worshiping of other gods.
• Moses tells the people to take the words of the song to heart and to be careful to do all the words of His law.

Psalm 90

• Moses writes a psalm that is a lamentation and asks God to have mercy on His people.

March 20: Deuteronomy 29:2 – Deuteronomy 31:29

The Covenant Renewed in Moab – Deuteronomy 29

• God has Moses remind the people of everything that has happened in the last forty years, and how God has sustained them. He encourages the people to accept the covenant offered by God.

Repentance and Forgiveness – Deuteronomy 30

• Moses continues to address the Israelites, encouraging them to return to God. He tells the people that on this day, he is giving them a choice between death and life. If they love the Lord, He will prosper them, but if they turn away and refuse to listen to Him, their lives will be short.

Joshua to Succeed Moses – Deuteronomy 31

• Moses reminds the people that he is 120 years old and no longer able to lead them. He is not allowed to cross the Jordan River into the land, and Joshua will now lead them. Moses calls Joshua before all the people, and tells him to be strong and courageous as he leads the people, because God will go before him.

The Reading of the Law 

• Moses writes all these instructions in a book and gives it to the priests, who place it in the ark of the covenant. He reminds the people that at the end of every seven years, at the Feast of Booths, they will celebrate a time of release.

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

• God tells Moses that the day approaches when he will die, and He tells him to bring Joshua to the tent of meeting so God can commission him. God tells Moses that he is about to die and then informs him that the people will again forsake Him and break His covenant.
• God instructs Moses to write a song and teach it to the people, that it will be a witness for God. Moses teaches the song to the people.
• Moses tells the priests to summon all the leaders of the people so Moses can speak to them,

March 19: Deuteronomy 26:1 – Deuteronomy 29:1

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes – Deuteronomy 26

• Moses instructs the people that when they come into the land promised to them, they are to bring the Lord the firstfruits of each harvest and speak specific words over them. Every third year they are to offer a special tithe of crops for the Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows.
• Moses instructs the people to obey all the rules and statutes the Lord has given. If they do, they will be blessed and holy to the Lord.

The Altar on Mount Ebal – Deuteronomy 27

• Moses instructs the people to build an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal using natural, uncut stones.
• Moses then warns the people that people who do certain things will be cursed (those who cast idols; those who dishonor their mother or father; those who steal property from a neighbor; those who lead a blind person astray; those who deny justice to foreigners, widows, or orphans; those who have sexual intercourse with their father's wife, their sister, their mother-in-law, or an animal; those who attack an innocent person, those who attack a neighbor in secret; and those who accept payment to kill and innocent person).

Blessings for Obedience – Deuteronomy 28

• Moses instructs the people on the blessings they will receive if they follow God's statutes: everything they own will be blessed, the Lord will conquer their enemies and give them prosperity.

Curses for Disobedience

• Moses warns the people that if they do not obey the Lord, they will be cursed and explains all the ways they will be cursed.

March 18: Deuteronomy 21:10 – Deuteronomy 25:19

Marrying Female Captives – Deuteronomy 21

• Moses instructs the Hebrew people that if a man wants a female captive to be his wife, he should bring her into his home and have her shave her head, pare her nails, and change her clothing. She is to mourn her mother and father for a month, then he may take her as a wife. If he later no longer wants her for a wife, he is to let her go where she wants to go, but is not to sell her or treat her as a slave.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

• If a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, and he has sons by both wives, when he assigns his possessions as inheritance, if the firstborn of the unloved wife is older, the man may not assign the son of the loved wife with more. He is to give the double portion to the son of the unloved wife.

A Rebellious Son

• If a man has a rebellious son, he and his wife are to bring the son to the elders at the gates of the city. There he will be stoned by the people to purge evil from their midst.

A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed

• If a man commites a crime punishable by death and he is hanged, his body is to be removed and buried the same day. A hanged man is cursed by God, and they are not to defile the land by leaving him hanging.

Various Laws – Deuteronomy 22

• Various laws are given regarding a brother's livestock, women wearing men's garments, birds with eggs, building a parapet on the house roof, sowing two types of seed in a vineyard, plowing with an ox and donkey, wearing cloth of wool and linen mixed together, and wearing tassels on garments.

Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality

• Various laws are given regarding if a man claims a woman is not a virgin, if he is found lying with a woman not his wife, if a man lies with a betrothed virgin, if a man rapes a betrothed woman and an unbetrothed virgin, and a man laying with his father's wife.

Those Excluded from the Assembly – Deuteronomy 23

• Moses describes the types of people who are not allowed to enter the assembly (men whose testicles have been crushed or whose male organ has been cut off, anyone born of a forbidden union, Ammonites or Moabites). 
• The people are not to abhor Edomites, for they are their brothers, and they are not to abhor Egyptians, because they were sojourners in Egypt. Those born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of God.

Uncleanness in the Camp

• Laws are given regarding encamping against enemies, nocturnal emission, and defecating. The Lord walks among them in their camp and is not to see anything indecent among them.

Miscellaneous Laws

• More laws are given regarding runaway slaves, women becoming cult prostitutes, charging interest, making vows to the Lord, and taking a neighbor's fruit or grain.

Laws Concerning Divorce – Deuteronomy 24

• Laws are given about divorce.

Miscellaneous Laws – Deuteronomy 24 & 25

• Laws are given regarding newly married men and public duty, taking a mill or upper millstone in a pledge, stealing, leprous disease, taking loans, and oppressing hired workers who are poor and needy. Fathers are not to be put to death for their children's transgressions, or children for their father's transgressions. No one is to pervert justice with regard to sojourners or the fatherless, and when fields are reaped, some is to be left for the widow, the fatherless, and the sojourner.
• Laws are given about beating those guilty of offenses, no more than forty stripes. An ox is not to be muzzled while treading out grain.

Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage

• Laws are giving regarding Levirate marriage (when a wife's husband dies and her husband's brother takes her as a wife).

Miscellaneous Laws

• Laws are given regarding women intervening in their husbands' fights with other men and weights and measures in a bag being the same.

March 17: Deuteronomy 16:18 – Deuteronomy 2:9

Justice

• The people are to appoint judges and officers in their towns to provide judgment. These men are not to pervert justice or show partiality. They are to follow justice, that they may live and inherit the land God has given to them.

Forbidden Forms of Worship – Deuteronomy 17

• The people are not to plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord, and they are not to set up pillars, which the Lord hates. They are not to sacrifice an animal with any type of blemish, for that is an abomination. If anyone worships another god, they are to be taken outside the city and stoned. There must be at least two or three witnesses. In this way, they are to purge evil from their midst.

Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges

• If a case cannot be successfully tried within the towns or cities, the people are to go to the place where God instructs and He will decide. They are to go to the Levitical priests and the judge and consult them for a decision. Any man who doesn't obey the decision  will die.

Laws Concerning Israel's Kings

• Moses instructs the people that when they go into the Promised Land, they may decide they want a king, whom God will then choose. This person will not be foreigner, and he may not acquire many horses or instruct the people to return to Egypt to acquire horses, as God has told them never to return there. The king is also not to acquire many wives for himself, or excessive silver and gold. When the king sits on his throne, he is to write for himself a copy of the Law approved by the Levtical priests. He is to read it every day and follow God's instructions, so he may continue long in his kingdom.

Provision for Priests and Levites – Deuteronomy 18

• The Levitical priests are to have no portion or inheritance with Israel, but are to eat of the Lord's food offerings as their inheritance. If a Levite comes from his town to the place the Lord chooses, he may have equal portions to eat besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.

Abominable Practices

• When the people go into the Promised Land, they are not to follow the abominable practices of the nations there. They are not to sacrifice their children, practice divination, or inquire of the dead. God is driving out these people because of their practices, and the Hebrew people are to be blameless before the Lord.

A New Prophet Like Moses

• The Lord will raise up a line of prophets that the people are to listen to. God will put His words in these men's mouths.

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge – Deuteronomy 19

• Moses again explains cities of refuge and the laws concerning them.

Property Boundaries

• The people are not to move their neighbor's landmark, because the land is given to people by God.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

• For any crime, there must be at least two or three witnesses. When a person accuses another of wrongdoing, they are to go before the Lord, before the priests and judges. Justice will then be served.

Laws Concerning Warfare – Leviticus 20

• When the Israelites go to war, they are not to fear their enemies, for the Lord is with them. When they draw near to battle, the priest will come forward and remind the people not to fear. The officers are to ask if certain people are present (those who have built a house but not dedicated it, those who have planted a vineyard but not enjoyed its fruit, those who are betrothed but have not taken their wives, those who are fearful or fainthearted), and to instruct them to return to the people. When they draw near a city, they are to offer terms of peace. If the terms are accepted, the people of that city will do labor for them. If the peace is not accepted, they are to make war against them. They are to kill all the men, and take the women, children, and everything else as spoils.
• In certain cities, they are to destroy everything (cities of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites) so these peoples will not teach them according to their abominable practices. They are not to destroy the fruit trees in any city, but they may eat from them. Only the trees that don't produce fruit can be destroyed.

Atonement for Unsolved Murders – Leviticus 21

• If a man is found murdered in a field and no one knows what happened to him, the priests and judges will investigate. The nearest city will bring a heifer that has never worked down to a valley with running water and will break her neck there. The Levites will come, and the elders of the nearest city will wash their hands over the heifer and testify that their hands did not shed the man's blood, nor did their eyes see it happen. By doing this, they will purge the blood of the innocent from their midst.

March 16: Deuteronomy 13:1 – Deuteronomy 16:17

Warning Against Idolatry – Deuteronomy 13

• Moses instructs the people that if a prophet or dreamer of dreams tells them to go after other gods, they are not to listen, for the Lord is testing them. The prophet or dreamer of dreams is to be put to death to purge evil from their midst. If a family member instructs them to go after other gods, they are to do the same. If any people draw away from the cities so they can worship other gods, the people are to put them to death. The Lord will show His people mercy and compassion and will multiply them if they do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

Clean and Unclean Food – Deuteronomy 14

• Moses reminds the people of the food they are to eat (clean food) and the food they are not to eat (unclean food). They are not to eat any animal that has died naturally, but they may give them to the sojourners in their towns or sell it to foreigners. They are not to boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Tithes

• Moses instructs the people that they are to tithe all the yield of their seed from the field year by year, and are go to the place where God directs them and eat of their tithes that they may learn to fear the Lord. If it is too far for them to carry their tithe, they may convert it to money, go to the place where God chooses, and spend the money for whatever they desire. They are not to neglect the Levites, as they have no portion or inheritance.
• At the end of every three years, they are to lay up a tithe within their towns. The Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow can then come and be filled, and the Lord will bless the tithers.

The Sabbatical Year – Deuteronomy 15

• Moses instructs the people that at the end of every seven years, they are to give a release (every creditor is to release what he has lent to his neighbor or brother, although this doesn't apply to foreigners). There will be no poor among them because God will bless them if they obey Him. If anyone becomes poor, the people are to open their hands to him and lend what he needs. They are to give freely and unbegrudgingly, and the Lord will bless them.
• If a Hebrew person is sold, after six years of work he is to be released. The person is not to be let go empty-handed, as they are to bless these people as the Lord blessed them. If the person decides not to leave his master, then he will be a slave forever.
• All the firstborn males of the herd and the flock are to be dedicated to the Lord. If it has no blemish, the family is to eat of it, but they are not to eat its blood.

Passover – Deuteronomy 16

• Moses instructs the people to keep the Passover in the month of Abib. For seven days, they are to celebrate it with unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord and they are not to do work.

The Feast of Weeks 

• Seven weeks after the sickle is first put to the grain, they are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with a tribute of freewill offering. They are to rejoice before the Lord and to remember that they were slaves in Egypt.

The Feast of Booths

• They are to keep the Feast of Booths for seven days, when they have gathered in their produce. All people are to rejoice in the feast.
• So three times a year, the Hebrew people are to appear before the Lord at the place He will choose—Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. Every man is to give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord.

March 15: Deuteronomy 10:1 – Deuteronomy 12:32

New Tablets of Stone – Deuteronomy 10

• Moses reminds the people how God instructed him to again make two tablets of stone for Him to write His statutes on, and how the people then journeyed to Moserah, where Aaron died. At that time, the Lord set apart the Levites, and Moses spent forty days and nights on the mountain.

Circumcise Your Heart

• Moses reminds the people what God requires of them—for them to fear Him, walk in His ways, and love and serve Him with all their hearts—and tells them to circumcise their hearts and no longer be stubborn. Moses reminds them that their forefathers went to Egypt as seventy persons and the Lord made them as numerous as the stars.

Love and Serve the Lord – Deuteronomy 11

• Moses instructs the Israelites to love the Lord and keep His charge, His statutes, His rules, and His commandments. They are to remember everything He has done for them. They are to keep these commands as they go in to inhabit the land the Lord has given them, and if they do, He will give them rain for the land and grass for the fields. They are to turn aside from and not serve other gods, and to lay up God's words in their hearts.
• Moses tells them that he is setting before them a blessing and a curse—they will be blessed if they do as instructed, and they will be cursed if they don't. They are to cross over the Jordan River into the land God has given them, and they are to be careful to heed God's instructions.

The Lords Chosen Place of Worship – Deuteronomy 12

• Moses again instructs the Hebrew people that they are to destroy all the places where the previous peoples worshiped their gods. They are not to worship their God that way, but are to seek the place where God will tell them to worship Him. They are to not offer their sacrifices just anywhere, but only in the place God instructs them to do so. They may slaughter and eat meat within their towns, but shall not eat the blood. They may not eat of their tithes in the town, and are to rejoice in the Lord and not neglect the Levites. They are to be careful to heed God's commands, that it may go well with them.

Warning Against Idolatry

• Moses reminds the people that when they defeat the people living in the land, they are not to be ensnared by their gods or their religions.

March 14: Deuteronomy 6:1 – Deuteronomy 9:29

The Greatest Commandment – Deuteronomy 6

• Moses reminds the people that they are to follow the Lord's commandments in the Promised Land, then tells them that they are to love God with all their heart, soul, and might. They are to teach these things to their children and are to write them on their doorposts and gates.
• When the Lord brings them into the new land, they are to fear Him and have no other gods before Him. They are not to put Him to the test, and they are to recount to their children all the Lord has done from them since bringing them out of Egypt.

A Chosen People – Deuteronomy 7

• Moses tells the people that when God brings them into the Promised Land and clears away the nations there, they are to make no covenant with those peoples and to show them no mercy. They are not to marry with them, but to break down their altars and burn their carved images with fire.
• Moses reminds them that God has chosen the Israelites above all other peoples and that He loves them and will not be slack with those who hate Him. Because they keep his statutes and rules, the Lord will love them, bless them, and multiply them. No females will be barren among the people or their animals, and God will take away their sicknesses. They are not to pity any of the people that God gives over to them.
• Moses tells the Hebrew people that they are not to be afraid of other peoples, but to remember what God did for them in Egypt. They are to overtake the peoples God gives over to them, and they are to destroy their gods. They are not to covet the silver and gold of their idols and are not to bring the abominable things into their homes.

Remember the Lord Your God – Deuteronomy 8

• Moses reminds the people that they are to remember the Lord by keeping His commandments, for it is He who has done so many great things for them. If they forget the Lord and go after other gods and worship them, they will perish as the nations that have gone before the Israelites will perish.

Not Because of Righteousness – Deuteronomy 9

• Moses instructs the people to cross over the Jordan River and go into the land that God has promised to their forefathers. They are not to think that it is because of their righteousness that God has brought them to possess this land.
• Moses reminds Israel that they are a stubborn people who provoked the Lord to wrath, and recounts how they created the golden calf while he was getting the Ten Commandments on the mountain. Because of this, Moses lay prostrate before the Lord for forty days and nights, praying that the Lord would not destroy them. The people are to remember their forefathers, 

March 13: Deuteronomy 3:21 – Deuteronomy 5:23

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Promised Land – Deuteronomy 3:21–29

• Moses reminds the Israelites how he told God of His greatness and then requested that he might cross into the Promised Land but God told him not to ask again and then instructed him to go to the top of Mount Pisgah and look at the land from there. God then told him to encourage and strengthen Joshua, because he would be the one to lead the people into the land.

Moses Commands Obedience – Deuteronomy 4

• Moses instructs the people to listen to the statutes and rules he is teaching them, and to remember what happened when they disobeyed and worshiped Baal at Peor. He then recounts how he was called to the top of the mountain and given the Ten Commandments.

Idolatry Forbidden

• Moses reminds the people that they are forbidden to make any idols and warns them that if they do make idols, their time in the land will be short. He tells them that if they obey the Lord, He will not leave them, destroy them, or forget their covenant.

The Lord Alone Is God

• Moses reminds the Hebrew people that the Lord alone is God, and if they keep His commandments, things will go well for them and their children and their days in the land will be prolonged.

Cities of Refuge

• Moses sets apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan as cities of refuge: Bezar for the Reubenites, Ramoth for the Gadites, and Golan for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

• The laws already given (the Ten Commandments) are reintroduced.

The Ten Commandments – Deuteronomy 5

• Moses summons all of Israel and reminds them of the commandments God gave them at Horeb:

1. No other gods before God.
2. No graven images.
3. No taking the name of the Lord in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. Honor your mother and father.
6. No murder.
7. No committing adultery.
8. No stealing.
9. No bearing false witness (lying).
10. No coveting what belongs to others.

March 12: Deuteronomy 1:1 – Deuteronomy 3:20

The Command to Leave Horeb – Deuteronomy 1

• After forty years in the desert, God tells Moses to go in and take possession of the Promised Land.

Leaders Appointed

• Moses tells Israel that he can no longer bear them by himself, as they have become too many people and fight too much. He instructs each tribe to choose leaders and he will appoint them the heads (judges) of the tribes.

Israel's Refusal to Enter the Land

• Moses reminds Israel of its failure to enter the land at Kadesh thirty-eight years before, in order to remind the current generation not to repeat the sins of their parents. They are again on the border of the Promised Land, and they have a choice to make.

The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion

• Moses reminds Israel of how their failure to enter the land at Kadaesh resulted in the Lord's anger and their forty years in the wilderness.

The Wilderness Years – Deuteronomy 2

• Moses continues to recount Israel's history, reminding them of their passages through Edom, Moab, and Ammon (near the end of their time in the wilderness). Moses recounts this to remind them of God's faithfulness when they obeyed Him.

The Defeat of King Sihon

• Moses recounts Israel's first conquest, of Heshbon and King Sihon, an Amorite. When Israel requested to pass through the land, the king refused and God gave over the king and his people to Israel.

The Defeat of King Og

• Moses recounts Israel's second conquest, this time of Bashan and King Og. The king and his men came against Israel, but God delivered them into Israel's hand. Moses reminds them that God has given them the land to possess.

March 11: Numbers 34:1 – Numbers 36:13

Boundaries of the Land – Numbers 34

• God tell Moses to instruct the Hebrew people on the boundaries of the Promised Land. Moses informs the people that all this land will go to the nine tribes, as the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh will receive the land beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho.

List of Tribal Chiefs

• God tells Moses that Eleazar the priest and Joshua will divide the land. A leader is picked from each tribe to help them assign the land.
• From the tribe of Judah, Caleb.
• From the tribe of Simeon, Shemuel.
• From the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad.
• From the tribe of Dan, Bukki.
• From the tribe of Manasseh, Hanniel.
• From the tribe of Ephraim, Kemuel.
• From the tribe of Zebulun, Elizaphan.
• From the tribe of Issachar, Paltiel.
• From the tribe of Asher, Shelomi.
• From the tribe of Naphtali, Padahel.

Cities for the Levites – Numbers 35

• While Israel is camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho, God tells Moses to instruct the people on separating land for the Levites. There will be six cities in the Promised Land where the Levites will live, and their pasturelands will surround the city; these cities will be refuge cities where people can flee for safety if they've accidentally killed another person. The Levites are also to be given forty-two other cities with surrounding pasturelands. Each tribe will give property in proportion to its size.

Cites of Refuge

• God tells Moses to instruct the Hebrew people that they are to set up cities of refuge where people can flee if they've accidentally killed another person. In these cities, they cannot be put to death before being tried by the community. There are to be six cities (three on the east side of the Jordan and three on the west), and they are for protection for Israelites, foreigners living among them, and traveling merchants.
• God instructs that if a man kills another man with iron, stone, or wood, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death by the killed person's nearest relative. If a man hates another and kills him by ambush or by hitting him with a fist, it is also murder and must be avenged. In other instances, the community will determine if a death is murder. The person will then be kept in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. If he leaves the city of refuge and the avenger finds and kills him, it will not be considered murder. After the death of the high priest, the slayer can return to his property.
• It is instructed that all murders must be put to death, but only if there is evidence from two witnesses. No ransom is to be accepted for the life of someone who is to be put to death or for someone who has fled to a refuge city. Murder pollutes the land, and God does not want the land where He lives polluted.

Women Who Inherit Property – Numbers 36

• The heads of the clans of Gilead (of the tribe of Manasseh) come to Moses and point out that the Lord instructed him to give property to the daughters of Zelophehad. They question what they are to do if the daughters marry men from another tribe, since their land would then go to the other tribe.
• Moses gives Israel the command from God that the daughters may marry any man they choose, as long as he is from their own tribe. No land is to pass between tribes, so all women who are to inherit land must marry within their tribe.
• The daughters of Zelophehad marry cousins on their father's side, staying within their own tribe.

March 10: Numbers 32:1 – Numbers 33:56

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead – Numbers 32

• The people of Reuben and the people of Gad go to Moses and Eleazar and ask if they can take their livestock and inhabit the lands of Jazer and Gilead in the Promised Land.
• Moses asks them if they intend to stay there instead of going with the rest of Israel across the Jordan River to fight the peoples living there. He reminds the men of their forefathers, who angered the Lord by spying the Promised Land and then discouraging the people from going into the land that the Lord had promised His people. Moses points out that if these men turn away from God, He will again abandon them in the wilderness.
• The men reply that they will build pens for their animals and small walled cities for their families, and will still fight with Israel and won't return home until all of Israel has its inheritance.
• Moses agrees that if they will fight with Israel to overcome those living in the Promised Land, the land on the east side of the Jordan will be theirs. However, if they don't keep their word, their sin will find them out. He gives word to Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of Israel, and assigns the land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. The tribes each build multiple towns.

Recounting Israel's Journey – Numbers 33

• At God's command, Moses keeps a written record of the march of the Israelite people, starting in Egypt (as they left slavery). He records every place where the people stop.
• While Israel is camped near the Jordan River on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho, God tells them to cross the river and take possession of the Promised Land. They are to drive out all peoples and then divide the land by tribe size using a sacred lot.

March 9: Numbers 30:1 – Numbers 31:54

Men and Vows – Numbers 30

• Moses tells the heads of the tribes of Israel that the Lord has commanded that if a man makes a vow or swears an oath, he must not break his word. He is to do according to what he says.

Women and Vows

• Moses tells the heads of the tribe that if a woman makes a vow or swears an oath while she is a youth in her father's house and he hears her vow and says nothing, then her vow will stand. But if her father hears her and on that day opposes the vow, the vow will not stand and the Lord will forgive her because her father opposed her.
• The same is true of a woman in the house of her husband (for widowed or divorced wives, their vows will stand). If a woman who has made a vow gets married, her new husband can cancel that vow. If a man hears his wife make a vow and says nothing, but later objects to it, he will suffer the penalty for breaking them.

Vengeance on Midian – Numbers 31

• God tells Moses that the people of Israel should avenge the people of Midian. Moses tells the tribes that each one is to send one thousand men, twelve thousand men total. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, goes with them bearing the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets.
• The Israelites kill every man of Midian, including their five kings and Balaam. They take captive the women and children and plunder their livestock and belongings. They burn their cities and then bring the captives and spoils to Moses and Eleazar the priest at Jericho.
• Moses is angry that they have let the women live, since these women were the ones who seduced Israelite men. He instructs the soldiers to kill all the boys and all the women who have had sexual relations with a man, but to allow the girls to live. He then instructs the soldiers to camp outside the camp for seven days, and that those who have killed a person or touched a dead body are to purify themselves.
• Eleazar instructs that plundered metals are to be passed through the fire to be purified and that objects that cannot be passed through the fire are to be washed.
• God instructs Moses how to divide the plunder among the people. Half goes to the soldiers and half goes to the rest of the people. The soldiers are to give from their share one-five-hundredth to the priests, and the people are to give one-fiftieth of their share to the Levites.
• The plunder is counted (675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 girls and women) and distributed as instructed.
• The officers of the Israelite army go to Moses and Eleazar, state that none of their men were lost, and present all the jewelry they each plundered to make atonement for themselves. Moses and Eleazar take all the items and bring them into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the people before the Lord.

March 8: Numbers 27:1 – Numbers 29:40

The Daughters of Zelophehad – Numbers 27

• The daughters of Zelophehad (Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) come before Moses and tell him that their father died in the wilderness for his sin and left no sons. They ask that Moses give them a possession among their father's brothers.
• Moses brings the case before the Lord, and God agrees that they should be given an inheritance. God also instructs that if any other men die without sons (only daughters), their inheritance is to be given to their daughters. If there are no daughters, then the inheritance is to be given to the man's brothers, and if he has no brothers, then to his uncles, and if he has no uncles, then to the nearest kinsman.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

• God tells Moses to go up onto the mountain of Abiram and see the land that He has given to Israel. After Moses has seen it, he will die as Aaron did, since he rebelled against the instructions given in the wilderness of Zin.
• Moses asks God to appoint a man over the congregation, and God chooses Joshua. As instructed, Moses has Joshua stand before Eleazar and the congregation, and Eleazar commissions him.

Daily Offerings – Numbers 28

• God gives Moses instructions for daily offerings from the people: one lamb without blemish in the morning and one in the evening as a food offering, a grain offering mixed with oil for a burnt offering, and a drink offering.

Sabbath Offerings

• On the Sabbath, the daily offering is doubled.

Monthly Offerings

• At the beginning of the month, the following is to be offered: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each ram, and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each lamb.

Passover Offerings

• On the fourteenth day of the first month is Passover, and on the fifteenth is the feast. Unleavened bread is eaten for seven days, and instructions for offerings are given. These offerings are made in addition to the usual daily offerings.

Offerings for the Feast of Weeks

• On the day of firstfruits, the people are to offer a grain offering, not do any work, and offer a burnt offering in addition to the usual daily offerings.

Offerings for the Feast of Trumpets – Numbers 29

• On the first day of the seventh month the people are to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. They are to not do any work, and are to blow the trumpets and offer a burnt offering in addition to the daily offerings and monthly offerings.

Offerings for the Day of Atonement

• On the tenth day of the seventh month, the people are to celebrate the Day of Atonement. They are to do no work, and are to offer a burnt offering in addition to the daily offerings.

Offerings for the Feast of Booths

• On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the people are to do no work and are to keep a feast for seven days. They are to make offerings in addition to the daily offerings. On each day they are to offer twelve bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs, the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, and one male goat. On the eighth day, they will do no work and offer a burnt offering, a food offering, a grain offering, and a sin offering.

March 7: Numbers 25:1 – Numbers 26:65

Baal Worship at Peor – Numbers 25

• While Israel is living in Shittim, some of the men begin having sexual relations with women from Moab. They take part in sacrifices to the Moabite gods, yoking themselves to Baal of Peor.
• God's anger is kindled and he instructs Moses to have the judges put to death (kill and impale) those under their authority who had joined in worshiping Baal.
• One of the people of Israel brings a Midianite woman to his family in the sight of Moses and all of the people. When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, sees this, he grabs a spear and goes after the man. He impales the man, also driving the spear into the woman's belly, and the plague on Israel stops. Even so, twenty-four thousand people have died.

The Zeal of Phinehas

• God tells Moses that Phinehas has turned back His wrath by being jealous with God's jealousy and that He gives him a covenant of peace for making atonement for Israel.
• The name of the slain man is Zimri (a Simeonite) and the slain woman Cozbi.
• God tells Moses to strike the Midianites down.

Census of the New Generation – Numbers 26

• After the plague, God tells Moses and Aaron to take another census of the people of Israel, men twenty years and older.
• The tribe of Reuben includes these clans: Hanochite, Palluite, Hezronite, and Carmite (43,730 men).
• The tribe of Simeon includes these clans: Jemuelite, Jaminite, Jakinite, Zoharite, and Shaulite (22,000 men),
• The tribe of Gad includes these clans: Zephonite, Haggite, Shunite, Oznite, Erite, Arodite, and Arelite (40,500 men).
• The tribe of Judah includes these clans: Shelanite, Perezite, Zerahite, Hezronite (Perezite subclan), and Hamulite (Perezite subclan) (76,500 men).
• The tribe of Issachar includes these clans: Tolaite, Puite, Jashubite, and Shimronite (64,300 men).
• The tribe of Zebulun includes these clans: Seredite, Elonite, and Jahleelite (60,500 men).
• The tribe of Manasseh includes these clans: Makirite clan, Gileadite, and Gileadite subclans Iezerite, Helekite, Asrielite, Shechemite, Shemidaite, and Hepherite (52,700 men).
• The tribe of Ephraim includes these clans: Shuthelahite, Bekerite, Tahanite, Eranite (Shuthelahite subclan) (32,500 men).
• The tribe of Benjamin includes these clans: Belaite, Ashbelite, ahiramite, Shuphamite, Huphamite, Ardite (Belaite subclan), and Naamite (Belaite subclan) (45,600 men).
• The tribe of Dan includes these clans: Shuhamite (64,400 men).
• The tribe of Asher includes these clans: Imnite, Ishvite, Beriite, Heberite (Beriite subclan), and Malkielite (Beriite subclan) (53,400 men).
• The tribe of Naphtali includes these clans: Jahzeelite, Gunite, Jerezite, and Shillemite (45,400 men).
• The total number of men ages twenty and older is 601,723. God tells Moses to divide the land among the tribes, giving the larger tribes more land than the smaller ones.
• The tribe of Levi includes these clans: Gershonite, Kohathite, and Merarite. The subclans include: Libnite, Hebronite, Mahlite, Mushite, and Korahite. The number of male Levites age one month and older is 23,000, but they are not included in the registration because they are not given land allotment. 
• None of these people counted were counted in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron since God had said that they would all die in the wilderness. The only ones who survived were Joshua and Caleb. 

March 6: Numbers 22:1 – Numbers 24:25

Balak Summons Balaam – Numbers 24

• Israel camps in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
• Balak, the king of Moab, sends messengers (elders from Moab and Midian) to Balaam, summoning him to come help drive away the people who have come out of Egypt. Balaam tells the messengers to stay for the night, and during the night, God appears to Balaam. He asks Balaam who the people with him are, and Balaam tells Him why the messengers are there. God tells him that he is not to go with Balak against Israel, because they are blessed. The next morning, Balaam sends word back to Balak that he refuses to go against the Hebrew people.
• Balak again sends messengers, this time princes, but Balaam still refuses the invitation to join forces (depite offers of money). During the night, God tells Balaam to return to Balak with the princes, but to do as He tells him to do.

Balaam's Donkey and the Angel 

• God's anger is kindled because Balak, though saying he will not fight, wants the money and honor that Balak offers. As Balaam is riding his donkey along with two of his servants, and angel of the Lord with a sword drawn appears to the donkey. The donkey goes into the field, and Balaam strikes her. The angel then appears to the donkey in a narrow path between the walls of two vineyards, and the donkey presses Balaam's foot against the wall. He strikes her again. The angel then appears to the donkey in a narrow place, and she lies down. Balaam strikes her a third time, and this time she asks him why he has struck her three times. He tells her because she has made a fool of him, and if he had a sword, he would kill her. She points out that he has ridden her all his life and questions if it is her habit to treat him that way. Balaam admits it is not.
• God opens Balaam's eyes, and he sees the angel and falls on his face before the Lord. God asks him why he has struck his donkey and points out that if she had not turned aside before him those three times, He would have killed Balaam and let the donkey live. Balaam admits his sin, and tells God he will turn back. God instructs him to go with the men, but to speak as He tells him to do.
• Balak comes out to meet Balaam at the city of Moab. Balaam tells him that God puts the words in his mouth for him to speak. They travel to Kiriath-huzuoth together.

Balaam's First Oracle – Numbers 23

• Balaam tells Balak to build for him seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams. Balaam offers a bull and a ram on each altar, then tells Balak to stand beside his burnt offering, and he go and try to meet with the Lord.
• God meets Balaam, and tells him what to tell Balak. Balaam return to Balak and tells him he cannot curse Israel because God has blessed them. Balak points out that he has brought him here to curse his enemies, but Balaam has blessed them. Balaam responds that he must speak what the Lord puts in his mouth.

Balaam's Second Oracle

• Balak takes Balaam to another place where they can overlook Israel. There he builds seven more altars and offers a bull and ram on each altar. Again, Balaam goes off and meets the Lord, then returns to Balak and blesses Israel. Balak takes him to another place where he can overlook Israel, and there Balaam tells him to again build seven altars and sacrifice seven rams and oxen on them.

Balaam's Third Oracle – Numbers 24

• Balaam sees that it pleases the Lord to bless Israel, so he does not go to look for omens this time. He sets his face toward the wilderness and sees Israel camped tribe by tribe. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he again blesses Israel.
• Balak is angered and he tells Balaam to return to his own place, refusing to honor him. Balaam points out that he had already told Balak's messengers that he would not curse Israel even for all of Balak's gold and silver. He then tells Balak what Israel will do to Balak's people in the latter days.

Balaam's Final Oracle

• Balaam gives his final oracle, speaking of prophecies about Israel overtaking Edom, Amalek, and the Kenite (the rise of the Davidic dynasty). He then goes on his way, and Balak returns home.

March 5: Numbers 19:1 – Numbers 21:35

Laws for Purification – Numbers 19

• God tells Moses to have the people bring a red heifer (with no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed) and give it to Eleazar. He will take it outside the camp and sacrifice it, then sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. It should then be burned along with cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn. The priest and anyone else involved will then bathe and wash their clothes. The ashes (of this sin offering) will then be used for cleansing unclean people.
• Instructions are given for uncleanness after touching a dead body, and for using ashes from the sin offering, water, and hyssop to cleanse unclean people and their belongings. Unclean people are to be cleansed on the third and seventh days, and then they will be clean. Those who do not cleanse themselves will be cut off from the people.

The Death of Miriam – Numbers 20

• In the first month, Miriam dies in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and is buried there.

The Waters of Meribah

• The Hebrew people complain to Moses and Aaron because they have no water. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and God tells Moses to assemble the people and tell the rock before them to yield water for the people and cattle.
• Moses does as instructed, but instead of speaking to the rock to bring water, he hits it with his staff (as he did in Exodus 17). For this disobedience, God tells Moses that he will not bring the people into the Promised Land.

Edom Refuses Passage

• Moses sends messengers to the king of Edom (the people descended from Esau), asking that he and the Hebrew people be allowed passage through the land. He assures the king that they will not go through fields or vineyards, and will not take water from any wells, only following the King's Highway.
• The king refuses them passage, and comes against them with a large army. Israel turns away.

The Death of Aaron

• The Hebrew people journey from Kadesh to Mount Hor. There God tells Moses to bring Aaron and his son Eleazar up onto Mount Hor and place Aaron's garments on Eleazar, because Aaron will die there. Moses does as instructed, and Aaron dies on the mountain top. Moses and Eleazar return to the people belong, and Israel weeps for thirty days.

Arad Destroyed – Numbers 21

• When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, hears that Israel is coming, he fights against them and takes some captive. Israel vows that if the Lord will give over the king and his people to their hand, they will destroy the cities (Deut. 20 states that Canaanite cities that resist Israel will be destroyed). The Lord gives over the Canaanites, and Israel destroys their cities.

The Bronze Serpent

• Israel sets out toward the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The people complain about being in the wilderness with no food or water, and the Lord sends fiery serpents among the people. They bite the people, and many people die.
• The people go to Moses, repent for their sins, and ask Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents. Moses prays, and God tells him to take a serpent of bronze and place it on a pole, and that when whoever has been bitten sees it, he will live. Moses does as instructed.

The Song of the Well

• Israel journeys on. When they reach Beer, God tells Moses to gather people together at a well. The Hebrew people sing of the well, and then move on, ending up in the valley by the top of Pisgah, in the region of Moab.

King Sihon Defeated

• Israel sends messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking to pass through their land. Again they say they will stay only on the King's Highway, but Sihon refuses and gathers all his people against Israel. The Hebrew people defeat them and take possession of their land. The Hebrew ballad singers sing of their victory.

King Og Defeated

• Israel lives in the land of the Amorites, and Moses sends out spies to Jazer, and they capture the villages there. The Israelites then head up toward Bashan, and King Og comes against them. They defeat him and his people and take possession of their lands as well.

March 4: Numbers 16:1 – Numbers 18:32

Korah's Rebellion – Numbers 16

• Several men (Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On) gather together 250 chiefs of the congregation and come against Moses and Aaron, telling them that they have gone too far and asking what right they have to act like they are better than anyone else (since they all belong to God).
• Moses falls on his face before them, then tells them that tomorrow morning God will make it known who belongs to Him. He points out that they are already chosen by God since they are Levites, and would they now want to take the priesthood as well. He concludes that they are revolting against God, not him and Aaron. He summons Dathan and Abiram, but they refuse to come to him, claiming he has not fulfilled his word to take them into the Promised Land.
• Moses becomes angry and tells God not to accept their grain offerings. He then tells Korah and the others that they must come the next day and prepare incense burners.
• The next morning the men burn the incense and stand at the entrance to the tabernacle. They rile up the people against Moses, and God descends as a cloud and tells Moses and Aaron to move away because He's going to destroy all of them.
• Moses begs God to not be angry with all the people because of one man's sins, and God has Moses instruct the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Moses does this, and the people obey. The three men come to the doors of their tents with their families, and Moses announces that if the ground swallows up theses men, the people will know the men sinned against the Lord.
• The splits open, swallowing the men and their families, their belongings and tents, and anyone who stood with them. The earth closes up over them, and the people flee. Fire blazes forth from God and burns up the 250 men offering incense.
• God tells Moses to instruct Eleazar the priest to take the incense burners and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. The bronze is hammered as instructed and placed on the altar to remind the people that no one who is not a Levite should enter the Lord's presence to burn incense.
• The next morning, the people begin grumbling about Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron go to the entrance of the tabernacle, and God tells them to get away from the people so he can instantly destroy them. Moses instructs Aaron to get an incense burner, light it, and carry it among the people to purify them, but the plague still kills 14,700 people. 

Aaron's Staff Buds – Numbers 17

• God tells Moses to get from the people twelve staffs, one from each tribe, and write the name of the tribe's chief on the staff. They are then to place the staffs in the tent of meeting before the testimony, and the staff of the man God chooses will sprout. The next morning, Aaron's staff has sprouted with blooms, buds, and almonds.
• Moses brings out the staffs and hands them to the men they belong to. God then tells Moses to put Aaron's staff back before the testimony as a sign for rebels. The people of Israel claim they are "undone" (ruined) and question if they will all die.

Duties of Priests and Levites – Numbers 18

• God tells Aaron that the Levites will be responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary or the priesthood. He instructs Aaron to bring his relatives (the Levites) to the tent of meeting to assist them, but they must not go near the sacred items. Only the priests are to perform the sacred duties.
• God instructs that Aaron and his sons are in charge of the holy offerings (grain, sin, and guilt) and that they are to eat of them. Everything that Israel sets apart for the Lord will also belong to them, including the firstborns (which will be redeemed). They will receive no land, because God is their allotment, and the Levites will receive compensation for their service (they will received one-tenth from all people's donations).
• From that day on, no Israelites except for priests and Levites may approach the Tabernacle or they will die. The Levites can present their tenth as a sacred offering to the Lord, and it will be acceptable as their own offering. They are cautioned not to treat the holy gifts as common, or they will die.

March 3: Numbers 14:1 – Numbers 15:41

The People Rebel – Numbers 14

• The people raise a great cry and grumble against Moses and Aaron, asking why God has brought them out of Egypt and the wilderness to die at the hands of those who inhabit the Promised Land. They question whether it would be better to return to Egypt, and plot to choose a new leader.
• Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the people. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothing and claim that the Promised Land is an exceedingly good land, and that if the Lord delights in His people, He will bring them into it. They claim that the land's inhabitants will have their protection removed from them, and that the Hebrew people shouldn't fear them because God will be with them. The Israelites want to stone them.
• God asks Moses how long the people will despise Him and not trust Him, then says He will strike them with a pestilence, disinherit them, and make of Moses a nation much more mighty than they are.

Moses Intercedes for the People

• Moses points out that if God wipes out the Hebrew people, their enemies will hear of it and claim that the people died because the Lord could not bring His people into the land He swore to them. Moses asks God to remember His claim that He is slow to anger. abounding in steadfast love, and forgiving of iniquity, and he begs God to pardon the people's iniquities.

God Promises Judgment

• God agrees to pardon the Israelite's behavior, but warns that none of the people who have seen His signs yet have put Him to the test will be able to enter the land God promised to their forefathers. God will bring Caleb into the land, and his descendants will possess it. He tells Moses that since the Amalekites and Canaanites dwell in the valleys, the Israelites are to set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.
• God tells Moses and Aaron to instruct the people that all of them who have grumbled against the Lord will not be permitted to enter the Promised Land. The only ones allowed to enter the land will be Joshua and Caleb and the Israelite children. The rest will die in the wilderness, and their children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years due to their parents' faithlessness.
• The ten spies who grumbled against the Lord die of a plague sent by God.

Israel Defeated in Battle

• The people mourn greatly. They get up early in the morning and go into the hill country, saying they will now go to the land the Lord promised them.
• Moses instructs them not to disobey the Lord (as God has said they will not enter the Promised Land) because if they do, God will allow them to be destroyed by their enemies. The people ignore Moses' words, and the Amalekites and Canaanites defeat them and pursue them to Hormah.

Laws about Sacrifices – Numbers 15

• God tells Moses to again tell the people about how they are to make their sacrifices when they come into the Promised Land. In addition to the various offerings (see Leviticus 1–7), these now must be accompanied by appropriate quantities of meal, oil, and wine. When they reach the land, they are also to bake a loaf of bread and present it to the Lord.

Laws about Unintentional Sins

• God tells Moses to again tell the people how they are to atone for sins done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation (see Leviticus 4).

A Sabbathbreaker Executed

• While in the wilderness, the Hebrew people find a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. He is brought to Moses and Aaron, and God tells them that the man is to be put to death. He is stoned to death outside the camp.

Tassels on Garments

• God tells Moses to instruct the people to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. The tassel is to remind them of the commandments of the Lord.

March 2: Numbers 11:1 – Numbers 13:33

The People Complain – Numbers 11

• The Hebrew people complain, and God hears them. His anger is kindled, and the fire of the Lord burns among them and consumes some of the outlying parts of the camp. The people appeal to Moses, and he prays to God. The fires then die down.
• The people again complain, this time that they want meat, fruits, and vegetables to eat (instead of the manna they are always given).
• Moses hears the people weeping at the doors of their tents. The anger of the Lord blazes hotly, and Moses is displeased. He asks God why he has not found favor with Him and gives an account of everything he had done as instructed. Moses begs God for meat for the people, claiming he cannot bear the burden he has been given alone.

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

• God tells Moses to gather for Him seventy of the elders of Israel and bring them to the tent of meeting, and He will come down and talk with them there. God tells Moses that He will take some of the Spirit placed on Moses and place it on the elders. Moses is then to tell the people to consecrate themselves, for tomorrow they will eat meat. They will have meat for a month, until they are tired of it, because they have rejected the Lord.
• Moses does as instructed. The Lord comes down in a cloud and rests upon the seventy elders, and they prophesy, but they do not continue doing it.
• The Spirit rests on Eldad and Medad, who are still in the camp. They prophesy in the camp, and a man comes to the tent of meeting to tell Moses. Joshua tells Moses to stop them, but Moses refuses, saying he wishes all the men would receive the Spirit of the Lord. Moses then returns to the camp.

Quail and a Plague

• A wind blows in, bringing quail  from the sea. The people gather the quail for a day and a half and spread it for themselves all around the camp. Because of their greed, God's anger is kindled, and He strikes the people with a plague. The people then journey on to Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses – Numbers 12

• Moses has married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron speak against him. The Lord hears their complaints, and calls Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the tent of meeting. There, He comes down as a pillar of cloud, stands at the entrance, and calls Aaron and Miriam to Himself. He points out that He trusts Moses completely and questions why they weren't afraid to criticize Moses, then leaves.
• When the cloud removes from over the tent, Miriam is leprous. When Aaron sees this, he apologizes and begs Moses to ask God to heal her. Moses does so, but God tells him that she should be shamed for seven days. So she is put out of the camp for seven days, and the people don't march until she is brought back into the camp. They then set out for the wilderness of Paran.

Spies Sent into Canaan – Numbers 13

• God tells Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan—twelve men, one from each tribe. The spies are:
1. Shammua, from the tribe of Reuben
2. Shaphat, from the tribe of Simeon
3. Caleb, from the tribe of Judah
4. Igal, from the tribe of Issachar
5. Hoshea (Joshua), from the tribe of Ephraim
6. Palti from the tribe of Benjamin
7. Gaddiel, from the tribe of Zebulun
8. Gaddi, from the tribe of Mannaseh
9. Ammiel, from the tribe of Dan
10. Sethur, from the tribe of Asher
11. Nahbi, from the tribe of Naphtali
12. Geuel, from the tribe of Gad
• Moses sends the men into the Negeb to get an overview of the land and its people and fruits. The men spy the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, then into the Negeb. In the Valley of Eschol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes and carry it on a pole. They also gather figs and pomegranates. 

Report of the Spies

• After forty days, the spies returned to Moses in the wilderness of Paran. They bring word to the Hebrew people that the land "flows with milk and honey, and with this fruit," but that the people who dwell there (the Nephilim, Hittites, Jebusites, Amalekites, Amorites, and Canaanites) are strong and the cities are large and fortified.
• Caleb quiets the people and insists that they should go and occupy the land, because they are well able to overcome it. The other spies (aside from Joshua) insist that they would not be able to overcome the inhabitants there.

March 1: Numbers 6:1–27; Numbers 10:1–36

The Nazirite Vow – Numbers 6

• God tells Moses to instruct the Hebrew people what they must do if they decide to become a Nazirite (a dedicated layperson who takes a vow to be separated to the Lord—most people did this for only a short time, but some chose to live this way at all times, such as Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist).
• Nazirites must not drink wine or eat anything produced by the grapevine, are not to shave any part of their body at any time during their vow, and must not go near a dead body (even if the dead person is a close relative). Instructions are given for the process to be followed if a person dies next to a Nazirite, including shaving of the head and bringing sin offering and burnt offering on the seventh day; the person may then separate themselves again.
• Instructions are given for the process to be followed after the vow is completed. He or she is brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting. The person is to bring along: a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, a one-year-old ewe lamb for a sin offering, and a one-year-old ram for a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread and unleavened wafers smeared with oil for a grain offering and drink offering. The priest will then make the offerings. The person's head is to be shaved and the hair put on the fire as a peace offering. The boiled shoulder of the ram and one of the loaves of unleavened bread will be put in the hands of the Nazirite, and the priest will offer them as a wave offering.

Aaron's Blessing

• God tells Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with the following words: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

The Silver Trumpets – Numbers 10

• God tells Moses to make two silver trumpets to use for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. When both trumpets are blown (by the sons of Aaron), all the people will gather at the entrance of the tent of meeting. When only one trumpet is blown, the heads of the tribes will gather at the entrance of the tent of meeting. An alarm is to be blown to start the camp setting out on a journey and when going to war against enemies. The trumpets are also to be blown over burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Israel Leaves Sinai 

• On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifts from over the tabernacle of the testimony. The people set out in stages (described earlier), leaving the wilderness of Sinai for the wilderness of Paran. 
• Moses asks Hobab, the son of Reuel (Moses' father-in-law) to come with them. Hobab initially replies that he will return to his own land, but at Moses' prodding, he agrees to go with them.
• After three days' journey, Israel reaches their destination. Whenever the ark sets out, Moses says, "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you." Whenever it rests, he says, "Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel."