M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 4
The Twelve Memorial Stones. 1 When the entire people had passed over the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each of the tribes, 3 and tell them to take twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan where the priests had been standing, and to carry them over with you, depositing them at the place where you will be camping this evening.”
4 So Joshua called the twelve men together whom the Israelites had chosen, one man from each tribe, 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross over in front of the Ark of the Lord, your God, into the middle of the Jordan and have each man place a rock on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites. 6 [a]These will serve as a reminder for you when, in the future, your children ask, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 7 you will answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan stopped flowing before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan ceased to flow.’ These stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”
8 The Israelites did just what Joshua had commanded them to do. They picked up twelve stones from the Jordan’s riverbed, just as the Lord had instructed Joshua to do, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, and they brought them out to the place where they were camping that night and they laid them down there. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the Jordan’s riverbed, where the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant had been standing. They are still there today.
10 Now the priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that the Lord had directed Joshua to tell the people had been done, the things that Moses had ordered Joshua to do. The people hurried over, 11 and when all the people had completed the crossing, the Ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests crossed over in front of the people. 12 The men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and the men of one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh passed in front of the Israelites, clad in battle gear, as Moses had instructed them to do. 13 About forty thousand men clad in battle gear passed over before the Lord into the plains of Jericho to do battle. 14 That day the Lord exalted Joshua before all of Israel. They revered him as long as he lived, even as they had revered Moses.
15 The Lord then said to Joshua, 16 “Tell the priests who are carrying the Ark of Testimony[b] to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 So the priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, came up out of the Jordan. As soon as the priests’ feet touched dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned back to their place, flowing at flood stage as they had before.
19 [c]The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month,[d] and they camped at Gilgal to the east of Jericho. 20 Joshua erected the twelve stones that had been taken out of the Jordan at Gilgal. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22 tell your children, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry land.’ 23 The Lord, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you could cross over, just as the Lord, your God, had dried up the Red Sea before us until we had crossed over it. 24 He did this so that everyone upon the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and so that you might always fear the Lord, your God.”
Psalm 129[a]
Prayer in Time of Persecution
1 [b]A song of ascents.
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth—[c]
let Israel say—
2 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but never have my enemies prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back,[d]
making deep furrows.
4 However, the Lord is righteous,
freeing me from the bonds of the wicked.
5 [e]May all those who hate Zion
be thrown back in shame and confusion.[f]
6 [g]May they be like grass on the rooftops
that withers before it can be plucked,
7 so that it can never fill the hands of the reapers
or the arms of the binders of sheaves.
8 May those who pass by never cry out,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 130[h]
Prayer for Pardon and Peace
1 A song of ascents.
Out of the depths[i] I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cries of supplication.[j]
3 If you, O Lord, kept a record of our sins,
O Lord, who could stand[k] upright?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you may be revered.[l]
5 I wait for the Lord[m] in anxious expectation;
I place my hope in his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the dawn.
More than watchmen wait for the dawn[n]
7 [o]let Israel wait for the Lord.
For with the Lord there is kindness,
as well as plenteous redemption.
8 He alone will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
Psalm 131[p]
Childlike Trust in God
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
O Lord, my heart[q] is not proud,
nor are my eyes raised too high.
I do not concern myself with great affairs
or with things too sublime for me.
2 Rather, I have stilled and calmed my soul,[r]
hushed it like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child held in its mother’s arms,
so is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.[s]
Chapter 64
1 Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down
so that the mountains would quake in your presence,
2 as when fire sets brushwood ablaze
or causes water to boil.
Thus your name would be known to your adversaries
and the nations would tremble at your presence.
3 When you descended to perform awesome deeds
that we did not anticipate,
the mountains quaked when you appeared.
4 Throughout the ages no ear has ever heard,
nor has any eye ever seen,
any other god except you
performing such deeds for those who trust him.
5 You welcome those who lead an upright life
and rejoice to imitate your ways.
When we sin, you become angry,
but when we follow your ways,
we know that we will be saved.
6 All of us have become unclean,
and all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags
We all become withered like leaves,
and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
7 There is no one who invokes your name
or attempts to hold fast to you.
For you have hidden your face from us
and have delivered us up because of our sins.
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay and you are our potter;
all of us are the work of your hands.
9 Do not let your anger go to extremes, O Lord,
and do not remember our sinfulness forever.
Look upon us all,
for we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a desert;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolate waste.
11 Our holy and glorious temple
in which our ancestors praised you
has been burned to the ground,
and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?
Will you remain silent
and punish us beyond our endurance?
Jesus Is the True Servant of God[a]
Chapter 12
Picking Grain on the Sabbath.[b] 1 At that time, Jesus was walking through a field of grain on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look at your disciples. They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath.”[c]
3 [d]He answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God and they ate the consecrated bread, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests were permitted to eat. 5 [e]Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath, but they are considered to be without guilt? 6 I tell you, one greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had truly understood what is meant by the words, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these men who are without guilt. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”[f]
The Man with a Withered Hand.[g] 9 Moving on from that place, Jesus entered their synagogue. 10 A man was there who had a withered hand, and hoping to find some reason to accuse Jesus they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 He said to them, “Suppose you had only one sheep and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath. Would you not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable a man is than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, so that it was as sound as the other one. 14 But the Pharisees went out and began to plot how they might put him to death.[h]
15 The Servant of the Lord.[i] When Jesus became aware of this, he departed from that place. Many people followed him, and he healed all who were ill, 16 but he warned them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight.
I will place my spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not cry out or shout,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
nor will he snuff out a smoldering wick,
until he establishes justice as victorious;
21 and in his name the Gentiles will place their hope.”
22 Whoever Is Not with Me Is against Me.[j] Then they brought to him a man who was unable to either see or speak and who was possessed by a demon. He cured him, so that the man who was mute both spoke and saw. 23 All the people were astonished, and they said, “Is this not the Son of David?”[k] 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul,[l] the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
25 He knew what they were thinking, and he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself cannot survive. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom survive? 27 If it is by Beelzebul that I cast out demons, by whom do your own children cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
29 “Or again, how can anyone break into a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then indeed he can ransack the house.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore, I tell you that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.[m]
33 A Tree and Its Fruits.[n]“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad. For a tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can your speech be virtuous when you yourselves are evil? For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. 35 A good man brings forth good things from the good stored up within him, but an evil man brings forth evil things from his store of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to render an account for every careless word they utter. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
38 The Sign of Jonah.[o] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we would like you to show us a sign.” 39 He replied, “An evil and adulterous[p] generation asks for a sign, but the only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.[q]
41 [r]“On the day of judgment the inhabitants of Nineveh will rise up with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 42 On the day of judgment the queen of the south will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the farthest reaches of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43 New Offensive from the Evil Spirit.[s]“When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions seeking a place to rest, but it finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home from which I departed.’And when it returns, it finds that home empty, swept clean, and put in order. 45 Then it goes off and brings back with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and settle there. As a result, the plight of that person is worse than before. So it will also be with this evil generation.”
46 The True Family of Jesus.[t] While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brethren[u] appeared. They were standing outside, wishing to speak with him. [ 47 Someone told him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to speak with you.”][v] 48 But Jesus replied to that man, “Who is my mother? Who are my brethren?” 49 Then, pointing to his disciples, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brethren. 50 Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother.”
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