M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Circumcision of the Israelites
5 When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea(A) heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over,(B) they lost heart and their courage failed[a] because of the Israelites.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelite men again.”(C) 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelite men at Gibeath-haaraloth.[b] 4 This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males—all the men of war—had died in the wilderness along the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the people who came out were circumcised, none of the people born in the wilderness along the way were circumcised after they had come out of Egypt. 6 For the Israelites wandered in the wilderness 40 years until all the nation’s men of war who came out of Egypt had died off because they did not obey the Lord.(D) So the Lord vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.(E) 7 Joshua raised up their sons in their place; it was these he circumcised. They were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way. 8 After the entire nation had been circumcised, they stayed where they were in the camp until they recovered.(F) 9 The Lord then said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, that place is called Gilgal[c] to this day.(G)
Food from the Land
10 While the Israelites camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.[d] 11 The day after Passover they ate unleavened bread and roasted grain from the produce of the land. 12 And the day after they ate from the produce of the land, the manna ceased.(H) Since there was no more manna for the Israelites, they ate from the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
Commander of the Lord’s Army
13 When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand.(I) Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.”
Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship(J) and asked Him, “What does my Lord want to say to His servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”(K) And Joshua did so.
The Conquest of Jericho
6 Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites—no one leaving or entering. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its fighting men over to you.(L) 3 March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the trumpets.(M) 5 When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the people will advance, each man straight ahead.”
Psalm 132
David and Zion Chosen
A song of ascents.
1 Lord, remember David
and all the hardships he endured,(A)
2 and how he swore an oath to the Lord,
making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:(B)
3 “I will not enter my house[a]
or get into my bed,[b]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep
or my eyelids to slumber(C)
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”(D)
6 We heard of the ark in Ephrathah;[c](E)
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[d](F)
7 Let us go to His dwelling place;
let us worship at His footstool.(G)
8 Rise up, Lord, come to Your resting place,
You and Your powerful ark.(H)
9 May Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and may Your godly people shout for joy.(I)
10 Because of Your servant David,
do not reject Your anointed one.[e](J)
11 The Lord swore an oath to David,
a promise He will not abandon:
“I will set one of your descendants[f]
on your throne.(K)
12 If your sons keep My covenant
and My decrees that I will teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”(L)
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His home:(M)
14 “This is My resting place forever;
I will make My home here
because I have desired it.(N)
15 I will abundantly bless its food;
I will satisfy its needy with bread.(O)
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation,
and its godly people will shout for joy.(P)
17 There I will make a horn grow for David;(Q)
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.(R)
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,(S)
but the crown he wears[g] will be glorious.”(T)
Psalm 133
Living in Harmony
A Davidic song of ascents.
1 How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!(U)
2 It is like fine oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down Aaron’s beard
onto his robes.(V)
3 It is like the dew of Hermon[h]
falling on the mountains of Zion.(W)
For there the Lord has appointed the blessing—
life forevermore.(X)
Psalm 134
Call to Evening Worship
A song of ascents.
1 Now praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord
who stand in the Lord’s house at night!(Y)
2 Lift up your hands in the holy place
and praise the Lord!(Z)
3 May the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.(AA)
The Lord’s Response
65 “I was sought by those who did not ask;[a]
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said: Here I am, here I am,
to a nation that was not called by[b] My name.(A)
2 I spread out My hands all day long
to a rebellious people(B)
who walk in the wrong path,
following their own thoughts.
3 These people continually provoke Me
to My face,
sacrificing in gardens,(C)
burning incense on bricks,
4 sitting among the graves,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs,(D)
and putting polluted broth in their bowls.[c]
5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’
These practices are smoke in My nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6 It is written before Me:
I will not keep silent,(E) but I will repay;(F)
I will repay them fully[d]
7 for your iniquities and the iniquities(G)
of your[e] fathers together,”
says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and reproached Me on the hills,(H)
I will reward them fully[f]
for their former deeds.”
8 The Lord says this:
As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there’s some good[g] in it,’
so I will act because of My servants
and not destroy them all.
9 I will produce descendants from Jacob,(I)
and heirs to My mountains from Judah;
My chosen(J) ones will possess it,
and My servants will dwell there.(K)
10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,(L)
and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down,(M)
for My people who have sought Me.(N)
11 But you who abandon the Lord,
who forget My holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,[h]
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not hear;
you did what was evil in My sight
and chose what I did not delight in.(O)
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry;
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
15 You will leave your name behind
as a curse for My chosen ones,(P)
and the Lord God will kill you;
but He will give His servants another name.(Q)
16 Whoever is blessed in the land
will be blessed by the God of truth,(R)
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from My sight.
A New Creation
17 “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth;(S)
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in My people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.(T)
20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days,[i]
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years,
and the one who misses a hundred years will be cursed.(U)
21 People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(V)
22 They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For My people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree.(W)
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor without success(X)
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.(Y)
24 Even before they call, I will answer;(Z)
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,[j]
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(AA)
but the serpent’s food will be dust!(AB)
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on My entire holy mountain,”(AC)
says the Lord.
The Parable of the Sower
13 On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.(A) 2 Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.(B)
3 Then He told them many things in parables,(C) saying: “Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. 7 Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. 8 Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.(D) 9 Anyone who has ears[a] should listen!”(E)
Why Jesus Used Parables
10 Then the disciples(F) came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”(G)
11 He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know,(H) but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.(I) 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see,(J) and hearing they do not listen or understand.(K) 14 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You will listen and listen,
yet never understand;
and you will look and look,
yet never perceive.(L)
15 For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn back—
and I would cure them.(M)[b]
16 “But your eyes are blessed(N) because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!(O) 17 For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.(P)
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “You, then, listen to the parable of the sower:(Q) 19 When anyone hears the word[c] about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.(R) 20 And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.(S) 21 Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution(T) comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age(U) and the seduction[d] of wealth(V) choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
24 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.(W) 25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds[e] among the wheat, and left. 26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The landowner’s slaves(X) came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this!’ he told them.
“‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’ the slaves asked him.
29 “‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn.’”
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Yeast
31 He(Y) presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven(Z) is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”(AA)
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds[f] of flour until it spread through all of it.”[g](AB)
Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,(AC) 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
I will open My mouth in parables;
I will declare things kept secret
from the foundation of the world.(AD)[h]
Jesus Interprets the Wheat and the Weeds
36 Then He dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached Him and said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us.”(AE)
37 He replied: “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,(AF) 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.(AG) 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.(AH) 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin[i] and those guilty of lawlessness.[j](AI) 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace(AJ) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(AK) 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears[k] should listen!(AL)
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Priceless Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.(AM)
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless[l] pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it.(AN)
The Parable of the Net
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,(AO) 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,(AP) 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(AQ)
The Storehouse of Truth
51 “Have you understood all these things?”[m]
“Yes,” they told Him.
52 “Therefore,” He said to them, “every student of Scripture[n] instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who brings out of his storeroom what is new and what is old.”(AR) 53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.
Rejection at Nazareth
54 He went to His hometown(AS) and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?(AT) 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?(AU) Isn’t His mother called Mary, and His brothers James,(AV) Joseph,[o] Simon, and Judas?(AW) 56 And His sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does He get all these things?” 57 And they were offended by Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”(AX) 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
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