M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
8 ¶ And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed; take all the people of war with thee and arise; go up to Ai. See, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai and his people and his city and his land.
2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king; only the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof, ye shall take for yourselves. Lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
3 ¶ So Joshua arose and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour and sent them away by night.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city; do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5 And I and all the people that are with me, will approach the city; and when they come out against us, as at the first, we will flee before them
6 (for they will come out after us) until we have raptured them out of the city; for they will say, They flee before us as at the first. Therefore, we will flee before them.
7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 And when ye have taken the city, ye shall set the city on fire. Ye shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.
9 Then Joshua sent them forth, and they went to lie in ambush and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; and Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people.
10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning and numbered the people and went up he and the elders of Israel, before the people against Ai.
11 And all the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew near and came before the city and pitched camp on the north side of Ai; now there was a valley between them and Ai.
12 And he took about five thousand men and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13 And the people, all the camp that was on the side of the north came near to the city, and their ambush on the west of the city. And Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw it, he rose up early in the morning and made haste with the men of the city to go out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15 Then Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua and were raptured from the city.
17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel that did not go out after Israel; and because they pursued after Israel, they left the city open.
18 Then the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
19 And those of the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city and took it and made haste to set the city on fire.
20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that were fleeing into the wilderness turned back upon their pursuers.
21 Then Joshua and all Israel, seeing that those of the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned and slew the men of Ai.
22 And the others issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they smote them so that they let none of them remain or escape.
23 ¶ And they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 And when Israel had finished slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all the Israelites returned unto Ai and smote it with the edge of the sword.
25 And so it was that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 But the Israelites took the beasts and the spoil of the city for themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he had commanded Joshua.
28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a perpetual heap, desolate unto this day.
29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city and raise a great heap of stones upon it, that remains unto this day.
30 ¶ Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal,
31 as Moses, the slave of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no one lifted up any iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings upon it unto the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 He also wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the sons of Israel.
33 And all Israel and their elders and officers and their judges stood on one side and on the other near the ark, before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the strangers, as well as the natural born among them, half of them over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses, the slave of the LORD, had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
34 After this he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
35 There was not a word of all the things that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers that walked among them.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me.
2 Thou knowest my sitting down and my rising up, thou dost understand my thoughts from afar.
3 Thou hast girded my walk and my rest, and hast prepared all my ways.
4 For the word is not even upon my tongue, and, behold, O LORD, thou dost know it altogether.
5 Thou hast formed my face and my insides and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Thy knowledge is wonderful beyond my ability to comprehend; it is high, I cannot understand it.
7 ¶ Where shall I go from thy spirit? or where shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, thou art there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall shine because of me.
12 Even the darkness does not hide from thee; but the night shines as the day; the darkness is as the light.
13 For thou hast possessed my kidneys: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works, and that, my soul knows right well.
15 My body was not hid from thee, even though I was made in secret and brought together in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which were then formed, without lacking one of them.
17 ¶ Therefore, how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with thee.
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God; depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
21 Do I not hate all those, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts
24 and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way eternal.
2 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD: I remember thee, the mercy of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou didst go after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD and the firstfruits of his increase; all that devour him shall be found guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel;
5 thus hath the LORD said, What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain?
6 Neither did they say, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through and where no man dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? and those that handled the law did not know me; the pastors also rebelled against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.
9 ¶ Therefore I will yet enter into judgment with you, saith the LORD, and I will plead with your children’s children.
10 For pass over the isles of Chittim and see; and send unto Kedar and consider diligently and see if there be such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed their gods? Even though they are not gods. But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this; and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, said the LORD.
13 For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 ¶ Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn slave? Why has he been given over as a prey?
15 The young lions roared upon him and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are deserted without inhabitant.
16 Even the sons of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
17 Could this not have come upon you peradventure because thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt? to drink the waters of the Nile? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria? to drink the waters of the river Eufrates?
19 Thine own wickedness shall chastise thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore and see how evil and bitter it is, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God and that my fear is lacking in thee, saith the Lord GOD of the hosts.
20 ¶ For of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bands; and thou didst say, I will not serve sin. With all this, upon every high hill and under every green tree thou dost wander, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, a seed of Truth, all of her; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
22 For though thou wash thee with nitre and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is sealed before me, saith the Lord GOD.
23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
24 a wild ass used to the wilderness that breathes according to the desire of her soul; from her lust, who shall stop her? All those that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod and thy throat from thirst; but thou didst say, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is taken, so shall the house of Israel be ashamed: they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,
27 saying to a piece of firewood, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they say, Arise and deliver us.
28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble, for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah.
29 ¶ Why will ye plead with me? Ye have all rebelled against me, saith the LORD.
30 I have smitten your children in vain; they have received no correction; your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31 O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? Why do my people say, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
32 Shall the virgin, perchance, forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33 Why dost thou trim thy way to seek love? therefore thou hast also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
34 Even in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; thou didst not find them in any trespass, but by all these things.
35 Yet thou didst say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee because thou hast said, I did not sin.
36 Why dost thou talk so much, changing thy ways? Thou shalt also be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 Thou shalt also go forth from him with thine hands upon thine head; for the LORD has rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
16 ¶ The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to tempt him; they asked him to show them a sign from the heaven.
2 But he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather, for the heaven is glowing with an aurora.
3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather today, for the heaven has an aurora and is cloudy. O ye hypocrites, ye know how to make decisions based on the face of the heaven, and regarding the signs of the times are ye unable?
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and no sign shall be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them and departed.
5 ¶ And when his disciples were coming from the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and keep yourselves from the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves that ye have brought no bread?
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
11 How is it that ye do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread that ye should keep yourselves from the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
12 Then they understood that he bade them not to keep themselves from the leaven of bread, but from the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
13 ¶ When Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
15 He said unto them, But who say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in the heavens.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, a small rock and upon the large rock I will build my congregation, {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against her.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever thou shalt bind on the earth shall be bound in the heavens, and whatever thou shalt loose on the earth shall be loosed in the heaven.
20 Then he charged his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 ¶ From that time forth Jesus began to declare unto his disciples, how it was expedient for him to go unto Jerusalem and to suffer many things of the elders and the princes of the priests and of the scribes and to be killed and to be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him, saying, Lord, be it far from thee; in no wise shall this happen unto thee.
23 But he turned and said unto Peter, Remove thyself from before me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me, for thou dost not understand that which is of God, but that which is of men.
24 ¶ Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross {Gr. Stauros – stake} and follow me.
25 For whosoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward everyone according to their works.
28 Verily I say unto you, There are some standing here who shall not taste of death until they have seen the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
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