M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 18
1 [a]The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered together at Shiloh and they set up the tent of meeting there. The land had been brought under their control, 2 but there were still seven tribes among the Israelites who had not yet received their inheritance.
Inheritance for the Remaining Seven Tribes. 3 Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you wait before you go in to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Choose three men from each of your tribes. I will send them to arise and go through the land, describing it according to each of their inheritances. They will then return to me. 5 They will divide it into seven portions. Judah will continue to live in its territory to the south, and the descendants of Joseph will continue to live in their territory to the north. 6 You will write down a description of the seven portions of the land and bring it to me. I will cast lots for you here before the Lord, our God. 7 The Levites will have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, to the east, from Moses, the servant of the Lord.”
8 So the men arose and went on their way. Joshua commanded them to write a description of the land saying, “Go and travel through the land, writing a description of it. Return to me here so that I can cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh.”
9 The men traveled through the land, writing a description of its cities, divided into seven portions, in a book. They then came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. Joshua divided the land among the Israelites there, dividing it according to their allotments.
11 The Tribe of Benjamin. The lot for the tribe of Benjamin, divided according to its clans, was selected. The territory for their allotment lay between the Judahites and the descendants of Joseph. 12 [b]On the north their boundary started at the Jordan, going up the northern slope of Jericho and out west into the hill country until it exited in the Desert of Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary traveled on toward Luz, passing on the southern side of Luz (that is, Bethel). The boundary then ran down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill that lay to the south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 From the hill that lay facing Beth-horon on the south, the boundary extended around the west side to the south. It ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of Judahites. This was the western side.
15 The southern side of the boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended to the west, reaching the spring of the water of Nephtoah. 16 The boundary extended to the foot of the hill that lay over the Valley of Ben-hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim. It continued through the Valley of Hinnom on the southern slope of the city of the Jebusites until it reached En-rogel. 17 It then passed on north to En-shemesh, continued on to Geliloth which faced the Pass of Adummim, and ran up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben. 18 It continued along the northern slope of the Arabah, continuing down into the Arabah itself. 19 The boundary then passed along the northern side of Beth-hoglah, ending at the northern bay of the Salt Sea which is at the southern part of the Jordan. This was their southern boundary. 20 The Jordan was their boundary on the east. This was the inheritance of the Benjaminites with the boundaries that surround it, divided according to its clans.
21 The cities of the tribe of the Benjaminites, divided according to its clans, were: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. There were twelve cities, along with their dependent towns. 25 There were also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. There were fourteen cities with their dependent towns. This was the inheritance of the Benjaminites, divided according to its clans.
Chapter 19
The Tribe of Simeon.[c] 1 The second lot chosen was for Simeon, the tribe of the Simeonites, divided according to its clans. Their inheritance lay within the inheritance of the Judahites. 2 Their inheritance included: Beer-sheba (that is, Sheba), Moladah, 3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, 6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen. There were thirteen of these cities along with the towns dependent upon them. 7 There were also Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan. There were four of these cities, along with the towns dependent upon them. 8 There were also all of the villages around these cities up to Baalath-beer (that is, Ramoth-negeb). This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon, divided according to its clans. 9 The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the portion allotted to the Judahites, for Judah’s portion was too large for what they needed. Therefore, the Simeonites received their portion inside of their inheritance.
10 The Tribe of Zebulun. The third lot chosen was for the Zebulunites, divided according to its clans. The boundary of their inheritance extended to Sarid. 11 It ran westward to Mareal up to Dabbesheth, extending up to the river in front of Jokneam. 12 Going eastward from Sarid, in the direction of the sunrise, it ran to the territory of Chisloth-tabor and then went on to Daberath, arriving in Japhia. 13 From there it continued eastward to Gath-hepher and Eth-kazim. It went out to Rimmon and turned toward Neah. 14 There the boundary went around the north side of Hannathon, ending in the Valley of Iphtahel. 15 It included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities along with the towns dependent upon them. 16 These cities and villages were the inheritance of the Zebulunites, divided according to its clans.
17 The Tribe of Issachar. The fourth lot chosen was for the Issacharites, divided according to its clans. 18 Within their boundaries were: Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. 22 The boundary passed Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, ending at the Jordan. There were sixteen cities along with the towns dependent upon them. 23 These cities and these villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, divided according to its clans.
24 The Tribe of Asher. The fifth lot chosen was for the Asherites. 25 Within their boundaries were: Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, 26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On its western side the boundary passed Carmel and Shihor-libnath. 27 It turned toward the sunrise, passing Beth-dagon, arriving at Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel. From there it went north to Beth-emek and Neiel, passing by Cabul on the left. 28 It ran on to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, extending to Greater Sidon. 29 The boundary then turned toward Ramah, and ran to the fortified city of Tyre. It turned toward Hosah, ending at the sea in the area around Achzib. 30 It included Ummah, Acco, Aphek, and Rehob. There were twenty-two cities along with the towns dependent upon them. 31 These cities and villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Asher, divided according to its clans.
32 The Tribe of Naphtali. The sixth lot chosen was for the Naphtalites, divided according to its clans. 33 Their boundary went from Heleph and the large tree at Zaanannim to Adami-nekeb, Jabneel, Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan. 34 To the west it went through Aznoth-tabor, arriving at Hukkok. It passed Zebulun on its southern side, Asher on its western side, and the Jordan in the direction of the sunrise. 35 Its fortified cities included: Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, 38 Yiron, Migdalel, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh. There were nineteen cities along with the towns dependent upon them. 39 These cities and villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali, divided according to its clans.
40 The Tribe of Dan. The seventh lot chosen was for the Danites, divided according to its clans. 41 Within the boundaries of their inheritance were: Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekoh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, 46 Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, along with the area in front of Joppa. 47 (But the territory of the Danites was outside of this area. The Danites went up to fight against Leshem. They conquered it and put it to the sword. They took possession of it and dwelt there. They renamed Leshem Dan after the name of Dan, their forefather.) 48 These were the cities and the villages of the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, divided according to its clans.
49 [d]When they finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave an inheritance among themselves to Joshua, the son of Nun 50 as the Lord had commanded. They gave him the city he had requested: Timnah-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He built a city and settled there.
51 These are the inheritances that were divided up by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting by Eleazar, the priest, by Joshua, the son of Nun, and by the leaders of the ancestral tribes of the Israelites. This concluded the process of dividing up the land.
Psalm 149[a]
Glorification of God, Lord and Creator
1 [b]Alleluia.
Sing to the Lord a new song,[c]
his praise in the assembly of the saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name[d] with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people,
and he crowns the humble with salvation.[e]
5 Let the saints exult in their glory
and sing for joy on their beds.[f]
6 [g]May the praises of God be on their lips
and a double-edged sword in their hands[h]
7 to wreak vengeance[i] on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to shackle their kings with chains
and their nobles with iron fetters,
9 to execute the judgments decreed against them:
such is the glory for all his saints.[j]
Alleluia.
Psalm 150[k]
Harmonious Praise of God
1 Alleluia.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the firmament of his power.[l]
2 Praise him for his awesome acts,[m]
praise him for his immeasurable greatness.
3 [n]Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing,
praise him with strings and flutes.
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals,
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes
offer praise to the Lord.
Alleluia.[o]
Chapter 9
A Faithless People
1 Oh, if only my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears
so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 Would that I could find in the desert
a wayside shelter for travelers
so that I might depart from my people
and leave them far behind.
For all of them are adulterers,
a faithless mob of traitors.
3 Their tongues are like devious weapons,
bent like a drawn bow.
With falsehood rather than truth
they have gained power in the land.
They commit one crime after another,
but they do not acknowledge me, says the Lord.
4 Each of you should be on guard against your neighbor
and place no trust in a brother.
For everyone seeks to supplant his brother, as Jacob did,
and every friend is a slanderer.
5 They all deceive each other;
no one speaks the truth.
They have trained their tongues in the art of lying;
immersed in iniquity, they cannot repent.
6 With their repeated acts of oppression and deceit,
they refuse to acknowledge me, says the Lord.
7 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:
Now I will refine and test them.
How else should I deal with this people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
their mouth utters words of deceit.
They speak cordially with their neighbors,
but inwardly, they are plotting to ambush them.
9 For such deceitful dealings
shall I not punish them, says the Lord,
and shall I not exact vengeance
on such a nation?
Dirge over Zion
10 Raise up cries of weeping and lamentation for the mountains
and chant a dirge for the pasture lands,
because they have been so scorched
that no one passes there,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
Birds of the air and the animals:
all have fled and are gone.
11 I will turn Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,
a lair for jackals,
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so that no one can live there.
12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been commanded by the Lord to make it known? Why has the land been ravaged and laid waste like a desert through which no one is able to pass? 13 The Lord says, “This was permitted to happen because they have rejected my law which I set before them, and they have not followed it or listened to my voice. 14 Rather, they have stubbornly obeyed the wishes of their own hearts and followed the Baals, as their ancestors had taught them.”
15 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Now I will give this people wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have completely annihilated them.”
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Listen to my command! Summon the mourning women;
send for those who are most skilled in this regard.
18 Let them come quickly
and raise a dirge for us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears
and our cheeks may be wet with weeping.
19 May a sound of lamenting be heard in Zion,
“Great is our ruin;
intense is our shame.
We must leave our land;
our homes have been destroyed.”[a]
20 Listen, you women, to the word of the Lord;
let your ears receive the message he imparts.
21 Death has climbed through our windows
and has entered our palaces.
It has cut down the children in the streets
and the young people in the public squares.
22 The corpses of the slain will be strewn
like dung on an open field,
like sheaves left behind by the reaper
with no one to gather them.
True Wisdom
23 Thus says the Lord:
Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom,
or the strong man boast of his strength,
or the rich man boast of his wealth.
24 But if any wish to boast,
let them boast of this:
that they understand and know me.
For I am the Lord who governs the earth
with unfailing love, justice, and righteousness.
In these things I delight,
says the Lord.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will demand an account of all those who are circumcised only in the flesh: 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaved temples who dwell in the desert.[b] For all those nations, and the entire house of Israel as well, are uncircumcised in heart.”
Chapter 23
Portrait of the Scribes and Pharisees.[a] 1 Then Jesus addressed the crowds and his disciples: 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore, be careful to do whatever they tell you, but do not follow their example, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens that are difficult to bear and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they will not lift a finger to be of assistance.
5 “Everything they do is meant to attract the attention of others. They widen their phylacteries[b] and lengthen their tassels. 6 They love to have places of honor at banquets and the best seats in synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be addressed as ‘Rabbi.’
Do Not Be Called Teacher.[c] 8 “But do not allow yourselves to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master, and you are all brethren. 9 Call no one on earth your father, for you have but one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 You must not be called ‘teacher,’ for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you must be your servant. 12 All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all those who humble themselves will be exalted.
13 Woe to You, Teachers of the Law.[d]“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the entrance to the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow others to enter.
[14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you devour the houses of widows, while for the sake of appearance you recite lengthy prayers. As a result, you will receive the severest possible condemnation.][e]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You journey over sea and land to make a single convert,[f] and then you make that convert twice as worthy of Gehenna as you are.
16 [g]“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If someone swears by the temple, that is not binding, but if someone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18 “And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, that is not binding, but if someone swears by the offering that lies on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind fools! Which is of greater value—the offering, or the altar that makes the offering sacred?
20 “The one who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything that lies upon it. 21 The one who swears by the temple swears both by it and by the one who dwells within it. 22 And the one who swears by heaven swears both by the throne of God and by the One who is seated upon it.
23 [h]“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, but you have neglected the more important aspects of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced these without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat and then swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You cleanse the outside of a cup and dish, but you leave the inside full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside may also be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs[i] that look beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of decay. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 The Judgment of God Has Already Come on This Generation.[j]“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the tombs of the Prophets and adorn the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the time of our ancestors, we never would have collaborated with them in shedding the blood of the Prophets.’ 31 Thus, you acknowledge that you are the descendants of those who murdered the Prophets. 32 Go and complete the work that your ancestors began.
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to Gehenna? 34 Behold, therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 As a result, upon you will fall the guilt of all the innocent blood that has been shed upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Amen, I say to you, the guilt for all this will fall upon this generation.
37 The Lament over Jerusalem.[k]“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you murder the Prophets and stone the messengers sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not allow it! 38 Behold, your house has been abandoned and left desolate. 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until you say: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
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