M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 3
Instructions before the Crossing. 1 Joshua and all of the Israelites rose early the next morning and set out for Shittim, arriving at the Jordan where they camped before they crossed over it. 2 Three days later the leaders of the people passed through the camp 3 giving orders to the people saying, “When you see the priests and Levites carrying the Ark of the Lord, your God, set out from where you are and follow after it. 4 Maintain a distance of about two thousand cubits[a] between it and yourselves; do not approach it too closely. Thus you will know the way you are to go, for you have never passed this way before.” 5 Joshua said to the priests, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform wondrous deeds in your midst.”[b] 6 Joshua also said to the priests, “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on in front of the people.” So they picked up the Ark of the Covenant and went on ahead of the people.
7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all of Israel, so that they may know that I will treat you the same way that I treated Moses. 8 Say to the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant: ‘Approach the edge of the water and stand in the Jordan.’ ” 9 Joshua instructed the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord, your God.” 10 Joshua continued, “This is how you will know that there is a living God among you who will drive out the Canaanites,[c] the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites from before you. 11 Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth will pass before you into the Jordan. 12 Choose twelve men from out of the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. 13 [d]As soon as the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, set their feet down in the water, the waters of the Jordan will stop flowing downstream and will mount up in a heap.”
14 Crossing over the Jordan. When the people broke camp to cross over the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went on ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan was at its flood stage during the entire harvest season, but as soon as the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the Jordan, 16 the waters from upstream stopped flowing. They stood up in a mound quite a distance away, at a town called Adam, near Zarethan. The waters that were flowing downstream to the Arabah (the Salt Sea) disappeared entirely, so the people were able to cross over the Jordan. 17 The priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord were standing on dry ground right in the middle of the Jordan. All of the Israelites passed over on dry ground until the entire people had crossed over the Jordan.
Psalm 126[a]
God, Our Joy and Our Hope
1 [b]A song of ascents.
When the Lord brought home the captives to Zion,
we seemed to be dreaming.[c]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter
and our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”[d]
3 The Lord has indeed done great deeds for us,
and we are overflowing with joy.[e]
4 [f]Once again restore our fortunes,[g] O Lord,
as you did for the streams in the Negeb.
5 Those who sow in tears[h]
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying the seeds to be sown,[i]
will return with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Psalm 127[j]
Need of Divine Assistance
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
[k]If the Lord does not build the house,[l]
those who construct it labor in vain.
If the Lord does not guard the city,
those who keep watch over it do so in vain.
2 It is useless for you to rise earlier
and delay taking your rest at night,
toiling relentlessly for the bread you eat;
for while those he loves sleep,
he provides all of this for them.[m]
3 [n]Behold, children are a gift from the Lord,
a reward of the fruit of the womb.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are the children born in one’s youth.[o]
5 Blessed is the man
who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be forced to retreat
when he is confronted by his enemies at the city gate.[p]
Psalm 128[q]
Happy Home of the Righteous
1 [r]A song of ascents.
Blessed[s] are all those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labors;
you will enjoy both blessings and prosperity.[t]
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[u]
within your house;
your sons will be like shoots of an olive tree
around your table.
4 Such are the blessings that will be bestowed
on the man who fears the Lord.
5 [v]May the Lord bless you from Zion[w]
all the days of your life.
May you rejoice in the prosperity of Jerusalem
6 and live to see your children’s children.[x]
Peace be upon Israel.
Chapter 63
God’s Judgment of Edom
1 [a]Who is this that comes from Edom,
from Bozrah in crimson garments?
Who is this so magnificently attired,
marching with his mighty strength?
“It is I, proclaiming victory,
I who possess the power to save.”
2 Why are your robes red,
like the garments of those
who tread the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
not one of the nations came to my aid.
I trod the nations in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath.
Their blood spurted out all over my garments
and stained all my robes.
4 I resolved in my heart on a day of vengeance,
and my year for redeeming was at hand.
5 I looked all around, but there was no one to help;
I was outraged that no one offered any assistance.
Even so, my own arm brought me victory
and my wrath sustained me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I crushed them in my wrath
and sent their blood streaming forth over the ground.”
A Plea for Deliverance[b]
7 I will recount the favors of the Lord,
the glorious deeds of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us
and the great kindness he has shown
to the house of Israel.
He has favored us with his mercy
and the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “These are indeed my people,
children who will not betray me,”
and he became their Savior.
9 In all their difficulties
it was no messenger or an angel
but he himself who saved them.
In his love and his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
through all the days of old.
10 However, they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
Therefore, he became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.
11 Then they remembered the days of old
and Moses his servant.
Where is he who brought up from the water
the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit
in their midst,
12 whose glorious arm led them
to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to win for himself everlasting renown,
13 and who led them through the depths?
Like horses in open country,
they did not stumble.
14 Like cattle descending into a valley,
the Spirit of the Lord afforded them rest.
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where are your zeal and your might,
your compassion and your tender mercy?
Do not withhold them from me.
16 For you are our Father.
Although Abraham does not know us
and Israel[c] does not acknowledge us,
you, O Lord, are our Father;
forever you have been called our Redeemer.
17 Why, O Lord, do you allow us
to wander from your ways,
and harden our hearts
so that we do not fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
for the tribes that are your heritage.
18 For a brief period of time
your people possessed your holy place,
but now your enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 For far too long we have been
like those whom you do not rule,
like those who do not bear your name.
Jesus Is the Expected Messiah[a]
Jesus and John the Baptist[b]
Chapter 11
Report to John What You Hear and See.[c] 1 When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
2 When John who was in prison heard what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come,[d] or are we to wait for another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”[e]
John Is the Elijah Who Was Destined To Return.[f] 7 As John’s disciples were departing, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swaying in the wind? 8 Then what did you go out to see? Someone robed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are found in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women, no one has been greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.[g] 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and the violent are taking it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until the arrival of John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John is the Elijah who was destined to return. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
16 Indecisive Children.[h]“To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another:
17 ‘We played the flute for you,
but you would not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you refused to mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! He is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ Yet wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
20 Woe to the Cities of Galilee.[i] Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his mighty deeds had been performed because they had refused to repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the mighty deeds performed in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And as for you, Capernaum:
‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will be cast down to the netherworld.’
For if the mighty deeds performed in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would be standing to this day. 24 But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”
25 The Self-Revelation of Jesus.[j] At that time, Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and have revealed them to children. 26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
27 “All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
28 The Gentle Mastery of Christ.[k]“Come to me, all you who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
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