M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joshua Defeats Jabin and His Allies
11 When the news of Israel's victories reached King Jabin of Hazor, he sent word to King Jobab of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, 2 and to the kings in the hill country in the north, in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee, in the foothills, and on the coast near Dor. 3 He also sent word to the Canaanites on both sides of the Jordan, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, as well as to the Hivites who lived at the foot of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 They came with all their soldiers—an army with as many men as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They also had many horses and chariots. 5 All of these kings joined forces and came together and set up camp at Merom Brook to fight against Israel.
6 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will have killed all of them for Israel. You are to cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 So Joshua and all his men attacked them by surprise at Merom Brook. 8 The Lord gave the Israelites victory over them; the Israelites attacked and pursued them as far north as Misrephoth Maim and Sidon, and as far east as the valley of Mizpah. The fight continued until none of the enemy was left alive. 9 Joshua did to them what the Lord had commanded: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.
10 Joshua then turned back, captured Hazor and killed its king. (At that time Hazor was the most powerful of all those kingdoms.) 11 They put everyone there to death; no one was left alive, and the city was burned.
12 Joshua captured all these cities and their kings, putting everyone to death, just as Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. 13 However, the Israelites did not burn any of the cities built on mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. 14 The people of Israel took all the valuables and livestock from these cities and kept them for themselves. But they put every person to death; no one was left alive. 15 The Lord had given his commands to his servant Moses, Moses had given them to Joshua, and Joshua obeyed them. He did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Territory Taken by Joshua
16 Joshua captured all the land—the hill country and foothills, both north and south, all the area of Goshen and the dry country south of it, as well as the Jordan Valley. 17-18 The territory extended from Mount Halak in the south near Edom, as far as Baalgad in the north, in the valley of Lebanon south of Mount Hermon. Joshua was at war with the kings of this territory for a long time, but he captured them all and put them to death. 19 The only city that made peace with the people of Israel was Gibeon, where some of the Hivites lived. All the others were conquered in battle. 20 (A)The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.
21 At this time Joshua went and destroyed the race of giants called the Anakim who lived in the hill country—in Hebron, Debir, Anab, and in all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them and their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of Israel; a few, however, were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
23 Joshua captured the whole land, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Joshua gave it to the Israelites as their own and divided it into portions, one for each tribe.
So the people rested from war.
A King Thanks God for Victory[a]
144 Praise the Lord, my protector!
He trains me for battle
and prepares me for war.
2 He is my protector and defender,
my shelter and savior,
in whom I trust for safety.
He subdues the nations under me.
3 (A)Lord, what are mortals, that you notice them;
mere mortals, that you pay attention to us?
4 We are like a puff of wind;
our days are like a passing shadow.
5 O Lord, tear the sky open and come down;
touch the mountains, and they will pour out smoke.
6 Send flashes of lightning and scatter your enemies;
shoot your arrows and send them running.
7 Reach down from above,
pull me out of the deep water, and rescue me;
save me from the power of foreigners,
8 who never tell the truth
and lie even under oath.
9 I will sing you a new song, O God;
I will play the harp and sing to you.
10 You give victory to kings
and rescue your servant David.
11 Save me from my cruel enemies;
rescue me from the power of foreigners,
who never tell the truth
and lie even under oath.
12 May our sons in their youth
be like plants that grow up strong.
May our daughters be like stately columns
which adorn the corners of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled
with crops of every kind.
May the sheep in our fields
bear young by the tens of thousands.
14 May our cattle reproduce plentifully
without miscarriage or loss.
May there be no cries of distress in our streets.
15 Happy is the nation of whom this is true;
happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
The Sin of Jerusalem
5 People of Jerusalem, run through your streets!
Look around! See for yourselves!
Search the marketplaces!
Can you find one person
who does what is right
and tries to be faithful to God?
If you can, the Lord will forgive Jerusalem.
2 Even though you claim to worship the Lord,
you do not mean what you say.
3 Surely the Lord looks for faithfulness.
He struck you, but you paid no attention;
he crushed you, but you refused to learn.
You were stubborn and would not turn from your sins.
4 Then I thought, “These are only the poor and ignorant.
They behave foolishly;
they don't know what their God requires,
what the Lord wants them to do.
5 I will go to the people in power
and talk with them.
Surely they know what their God requires,
what the Lord wants them to do.”
But all of them have rejected the Lord's authority
and refuse to obey him.
6 That is why lions from the forest will kill them;
wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces,
and leopards will prowl through their towns.
If those people go out, they will be torn apart
because their sins are numerous
and time after time they have turned from God.
7 The Lord asked, “Why should I forgive the sins of my people?
They have abandoned me
and have worshiped gods that are not real.
I fed my people until they were full,
but they committed adultery
and spent their time with prostitutes.
8 They were like well-fed stallions wild with desire,
each lusting for his neighbor's wife.
9 Shouldn't I punish them for these things
and take revenge on a nation such as this?
10 I will send enemies to cut down my people's vineyards,
but not to destroy them completely.
I will tell them to strip away the branches,
because those branches are not mine.
11 The people of Israel and Judah
have betrayed me completely.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The Lord Rejects Israel
12 The Lord's people have denied him and have said, “He won't really do anything.[a] We won't have hard times; we won't have war or famine.” 13-14 They have said that the prophets are nothing but windbags and that they have no message from the Lord. The Lord God Almighty said to me, “Jeremiah, because these people have said such things, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth. The people will be like wood, and the fire will burn them up.”
15 People of Israel, the Lord is bringing a nation from far away to attack you. It is a strong and ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. 16 Their archers are mighty soldiers who kill without mercy. 17 They will devour your crops and your food; they will kill your sons and your daughters. They will slaughter your flocks and your herds and destroy your vines and fig trees. The fortified cities in which you trust will be destroyed by their army.
18 The Lord says, “Yet even in those days I will not completely destroy my people. 19 When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs.”
God Warns His People
20 The Lord says, “Tell the descendants of Jacob, tell the people of Judah: 21 (A)Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear. 22 (B)I am the Lord; why don't you fear me? Why don't you tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, a permanent boundary that it cannot cross. The sea may toss, but it cannot go beyond it; the waves may roar, but they cannot break through. 23 But you people! You are stubborn and rebellious; you have turned aside and left me. 24 You never thought to honor me, even though I send the autumn rains and the spring rains and give you the harvest season each year. 25 Instead, your sins have kept these good things from you.
26 “Evildoers live among my people; they lie in wait like those who lay nets to catch birds,[b] but they have set their traps to catch people. 27 Just as a hunter fills a cage with birds, they have filled their houses with loot. That is why they are powerful and rich, 28 why they are fat and well fed. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They do not give orphans their rights or show justice to the oppressed.
29 “But I, the Lord, will punish them for these things; I will take revenge on this nation. 30 A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 prophets speak nothing but lies; priests rule as the prophets command, and my people offer no objections. But what will they do when it all comes to an end?”
Jesus Teaches about Divorce(A)
19 When Jesus finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him by asking, “Does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason he wishes?”
4 (B)Jesus answered, “Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? 5 (C)And God said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.’ 6 So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together.”
7 (D)The Pharisees asked him, “Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?”
8 Jesus answered, “Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation. 9 (E)I tell you, then, that any man who divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, commits adultery if he marries some other woman.”
10 His disciples said to him, “If this is how it is between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus answered, “This teaching does not apply to everyone, but only to those to whom God has given it. 12 For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children(F)
13 Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and to pray for them, but the disciples scolded the people. 14 Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
15 He placed his hands on them and then went away.
The Rich Young Man(G)
16 Once a man came to Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me concerning what is good?” answered Jesus. “There is only One who is good. Keep the commandments if you want to enter life.”
18 (H)“What commandments?” he asked.
Jesus answered, “Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; 19 (I)respect your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
20 “I have obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else do I need to do?”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.
23 Jesus then said to his disciples, “I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven. 24 I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were completely amazed. “Who, then, can be saved?” they asked.
26 Jesus looked straight at them and answered, “This is impossible for human beings, but for God everything is possible.”
27 Then Peter spoke up. “Look,” he said, “we have left everything and followed you. What will we have?”
28 (J)Jesus said to them, “You can be sure that when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the New Age, then you twelve followers of mine will also sit on thrones, to rule the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake, will receive a hundred times more and will be given eternal life. 30 (K)But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.