M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 8
Joshua Conquers Ai. 1 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged! Arise and take all of your soldiers with you, going up to Ai. See that I have given the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land into your hands. 2 You shall treat Ai and its king just like you did Jericho, except that you can take its plunder and cattle for yourselves. Set up an ambush for them behind the city.”
3 So Joshua and all of the soldiers went up to Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of the strongest and most courageous and sent them out by night,[a] 4 commanding them, “Set up an ambush for them behind the city. Stay fairly close to the city, and be alert! 5 I will go with everyone who is with me and we will approach near the city. When they come out against us like they did before, we will flee before them. 6 They will chase after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say to themselves, ‘They are fleeing away from us just like the first time.’ When we flee from them, 7 you are to spring out of the ambush and take the city. The Lord, your God, will deliver it into your hands. 8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded you to do! See, you now have my orders.”
9 Joshua sent them off, and they went into their ambush, lying in wait between Bethel and Ai, on the western side of Ai. Joshua spent the night with his people. 10 Early the next morning Joshua mustered the people, and he and the elders[b] of Israel marched off before them to Ai. 11 All of the soldiers who were with him went up and approached the city, drawing up in front of it. They pitched camp on the northern side of Ai, with the valley lying between them and Ai. 12 He had taken about five thousand men and set them up in an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the western side of the city. 13 All the soldiers were thus ready, those who were on the northern side of the city and those lying in wait on the western side of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men from the city rose early and went out to do battle with Israel at a fixed place in the plain. He did not know about the ambush that was lying in wait for him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all the Israelites were driven back before them, and they fled in the direction of the desert. 16 All of the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them. They followed after Joshua, and thus were drawn away from the city. 17 Every single man in Ai and Bethel went out after the Israelites. They left the city open and pursued the Israelites.
18 The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will deliver it into your hands.” So Joshua stretched out the spear in his hands toward the city. 19 As soon as he stretched out his hand, the men who were hiding in ambush rose from their place and rushed forward. They entered into the city and captured it, quickly setting it on fire. 20 The men from Ai looked back, and they saw smoke rising up into the sky from the city. There was no possibility of fleeing in any direction, for the people who had fled into the desert turned back upon their pursuers. 21 Joshua and all of the Israelites saw that those who had been in ambush had taken the city and that smoke was rising up from the city, so they turned and attacked the men from Ai. 22 The others also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle between two Israelite forces. They cut them down; none of them escaped or survived 23 except for the king of Ai, whom they captured alive and brought to Joshua.
24 When the Israelites had finished killing all of those who lived in Ai, in the fields, and in the wilderness where they had chased them, putting all of them to the edge of the sword, all of the Israelites returned to Ai and put everyone in it to death by the sword. 25 Twelve thousand men and women were slain that day, all of those who lived in Ai. 26 Joshua did not pull back the hand that held the outstretched spear until he had wiped out everyone who had lived in Ai. 27 The Israelites carried off the cattle and plunder from the city as booty for themselves, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. 28 Joshua burned Ai, leaving it a heap of ruins, and it remains desolate to this very day. 29 He hung the king of Ai from a tree until that evening. When the sun was setting, Joshua ordered that they should take his body down from the tree and toss it down at the entrance to the city gate. They piled a large mound of stones on it, which is still there today.
30 The Altar on Mount Ebal.[c] Joshua then built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel 31 as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the Israelites to do in the book of the law. Moses had written, “It is to be an altar of unhewn stones that no one has touched with iron tools.” They offered burnt offerings to the Lord there, and also sacrificed peace offerings. 32 There, in front of all of the Israelites, he copied on the stones the law that Moses had written. 33 All of the Israelites, including their elders, their officials, and their judges were standing on either side of the Ark. They were facing the priests, the Levites who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. There were both the foreigners and the native born. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of the people stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously commanded, so that they might bless the people of Israel. 34 Afterward he read all of the words of the law along with its blessings and curses, just as all of it is written in the book of the law. 35 Joshua read every single word that Moses had commanded before the whole assembly of Israel, along with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were living with them.
Psalm 139[a]
God’s Infinite Knowledge and Universal Power
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
[c]O Lord, you have examined me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand;[d]
you perceive my thoughts from a distance.
3 You mark when I go out and when I lie down;
all my ways are open to you.
4 A word is not even on my tongue
and you, O Lord, are completely aware of it.
5 You enfold me from in front and from behind,
and you place your hand upon me.[e]
6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension,
far too sublime for me to attain.
7 [f]Where can I go to hide from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I take my rest in the netherworld, you are also there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn[g]
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your right hand will hold me fast.
11 [h]If I say, “Surely the darkness will conceal me
and the day around me will turn to night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for to you darkness and light are the same.
13 [i]You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am wonderfully made;
awesome are your works,
as I know very well.
15 My body was not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
you saw me in the womb.[j]
16 [k]The sum total of my days
were all recorded in your book.[l]
My life was fashioned
before it had come into being.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I were to attempt to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,[m]
I am still with you.
19 [n]If only you would slay the wicked, O God,
and the bloodthirsty would leave me![o]
20 They blaspheme your name
and treacherously rise up against you.[p]
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and loathe those who rise up against you?
22 My hatred for them is unlimited;
I regard them as my personal enemies.
23 Examine me, O God, and know my heart;[q]
test me and understand my thoughts.
24 See if I follow an evil way,
and guide me on the way to eternity.
Chapter 2[a]
Israel’s Unfaithfulness.[b] 1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Go forth and proclaim this message in the hearing of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord:
I remember the devotion you displayed in your youth,
your love like that of a bride,
when you followed me through the desert,
through a land that was unsown.
3 Israel was sacred to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest.
Any people who partook of them were deemed guilty,
and disaster afflicted them, says the Lord.
4 Listen to the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
What fault did your ancestors find in me
that causes them to stray so far from my side,
pursuing worthless idols[c]
and thereby becoming worthless themselves?
6 They never thought to ask, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt
and led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and intense darkness,
a land through which no one travels,
and a land in which no one dwells?”
7 I brought you into a fertile land
bursting forth with fruit and rich produce.
But when you entered, you defiled my land
and made my heritage loathsome.
8 The priests did not ask,
“Where is the Lord?”
Those who dealt with the law did not know me,
and even the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and worshiped gods who were powerless.
9 Therefore, says the Lord,
I will once again accuse you,
and I will further accuse
even your children’s children.
10 Cross over to the coast of the Kittim[d] and inquire;
send to Kedar and observe carefully.
See if anything similar to this
has ever previously occurred.
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods,
even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glory
for something that cannot help them in any way,
12 Be incredulous at this, O heavens;
shudder in your horror, says the Lord.
13 For my people are guilty of two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that hold no water.
14 Is Israel a slave?
Was he born to be a servant?
Why then has he become plunder?
15 His enemies roar loudly at him like lions;[e]
they have made his country a wasteland;
his cities are burned to the ground and deserted.
16 The people of Memphis[f] and Tahpanhes
have shaved the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought all this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord, your God,
when he guided you along the way?
18 What advantage would you now achieve
by traveling to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
What would you gain by traveling to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
19 Your wickedness will bring about your punishment,
and your infidelities will condemn you.
Therefore, concentrate your thoughts
and see how bitter it is
to forsake the Lord, your God,
and to have no fear of me,
says the Lord, the God of hosts.
20 A long time ago you broke your yoke
and burst your bonds,
saying, “I will not serve.”
On every high hill
and under every green tree
you have sprawled and given yourself to harlotry.
21 I had planted you as a choice vine
from the purest stock.
How then did you degenerate
into a wild and corrupt vine?
22 Even if you would scrub yourself with lye
and use soap in great abundance,
the stain of your guilt
would still be clearly visible to me,
says the Lord God.
23 How can you say, “I am not defiled;
I have not gone after the Baals”?
Recall your conduct in the valley;
realize what you have done:
you have been like a restless she-camel
24 sniffing the wind in her lust;
who can restrain her ardor?
No males should exhaust themselves seeking her;
in her month they will find her.
25 You should stop before you wear out your shoes
and your throat becomes parched.
But you said, “It is hopeless.
I love these strangers,
and I must go after them.”
26 As a thief is ashamed when he is caught,
so the house of Israel will be ashamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
27 those who say to a piece of wood, “You are my father,”
and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
They have turned their backs to me,
not their faces;
yet, in their time of trouble, they cry out,
“Rise up and save us!”
28 Where are the gods you have made for yourself?
Let them come to save you
in your time of trouble.
For you have as many towns
as you have gods, O Judah.
29 Why do you dare to plead with me?
You have all rebelled against me, says the Lord.
30 In vain I struck down your children,
but they refused to accept my correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31 You of this generation,
behold the word of the Lord!
Have I been a desert for Israel
or a land of darkness?
Why then do my people say,
“We have broken away;
we will come to you no more”?
32 Does a girl forget her jewelry
or a bride her sash?
Yet for days beyond number
my people have forgotten me.
33 How well you direct your course
in the pursuit of love.
Even wanton women have profited
from their observance of your ways.
34 On your clothing can be found
the life-blood of the innocent poor,
whom you never caught breaking into a house.
Despite all this,[g]
35 you continue to proclaim, “I am innocent;
obviously, he has no cause to be angry with me.”
But behold, I will bring judgment upon you
for claiming that you have not sinned.
36 How nonchalant you are
as you change your course.
Just as you were shamed by Assyria,
you will be put to shame by Egypt.
37 From there also you will depart
with your hands upon your head.
For the Lord has rejected those upon whom you rely,
and with them you will not prosper.
Chapter 16
The Demand for a Sign.[a] 1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to put him to the test they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘Tomorrow there will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning you say, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous[b] generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.[c] 5 In crossing to the other side of the lake, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Be careful, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They talked about this among themselves and concluded: “It is because we brought no bread.”
8 Aware of what they were saying, Jesus said, “O you of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and the number of baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How could you fail to see that I was not speaking about bread when I said, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’?” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast used in bread but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 Peter’s Confession of Christ’s Divinity.[d]When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,[e] he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.” 15 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[f]
17 Then Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood[g] has not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father. 18 And I say to you: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,[h] and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”[i] 20 Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell[j] anyone that he was the Christ.
21 Jesus Predicts His Passion. From then onward Jesus made it clear to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be put to death, and be raised on the third day.[k]
22 [l]Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid, Lord. Such a fate must never happen to you.” 23 He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as men do.”
24 The Conditions of Discipleship. Jesus then said to his disciples, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.[m] 26 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his very life? Or what can he give in exchange for his life?
27 “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone according to what has been done. 28 Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”[n]
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