M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 14

¹ These are the inheritances that the Israelites received in the land of Canaan. Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the leaders of the ancestral tribes distributed it to them. ² The inheritance of the nine and one-half tribes was divided by lot just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³ Moses had given the inheritance to the two and one-half tribes on the other side of the Jordan. The Levites were not given an inheritance among them.

⁴ The descendants of Joseph belonged to two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites were not given an inheritance in the land, only cities in which they could dwell along with their pastures for their herds and their flocks. ⁵ The Israelites divided the land just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^[a]

Caleb’s Inheritance. ⁶ The Judahites came to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about me and you at Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of God, sent me out from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land. I brought him back a report that expressed what I felt, ⁸ but my brethren who went up with me caused the hearts of the people to melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord, my God, wholeheartedly. ⁹ On that day Moses made an oath stating, ‘The land upon which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, for you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord, my God.’ ¹⁰ The Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years since the Lord said this to Moses while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, as he promised. I am now eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am just as strong today as on the day that Moses sent me out. I am just as vigorous in going out to fight as I was then. ¹² Therefore, give me the hill country just as the Lord promised on that day. You yourself heard that day how the Anakim were there, and that their cities were large and well fortified, but if the Lord is with me, then I will be able to drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.”

¹³ Joshua blessed Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. ¹⁴ Hebron has belonged to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, as an inheritance ever since because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ (Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba. It was named after Arba, the greatest of the Anakim.)

There was then a respite from fighting in the land.

Chapter 15

The Tribe of Judah. ¹ The allotment for the tribe of the Judahites, divided according to its clans, extended to the boundary with Edom, down to the Desert of Zin in the extreme southern regions. ² Their southern boundary lie on the bay at the southern end of the Salt Sea. ³ It continued south of Akrabbim on to Zin, going up to the south of Kadesh-barnea past Hebron, up to Addar and it curved around to Karka. ⁴ It then passed along to Azmon out to the Wadi of Egypt, the border being on the sea. This shall be your southern boundary. ⁵ The eastern boundary was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.

The boundary of the northern quarter began at the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. ⁶ The boundary ran up to Beth-hoglah and passed to the north of Beth-arabah, and then it ran up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben. ⁷ The boundary then went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and then northward, in the direction of Gilgal that faces the Pass of Adummim on the south side of the river. The boundary then passed along the waters of En-shemesh until they flow out at En-rogel. ⁸ The boundary then runs along the Valley of Ben-hinnom to the south of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). From there the boundary climbs up to the top of the mountain that lies to the west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. ⁹ The boundary then runs from the top of the hill down to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, going along to the cities of Mount Ephron, continuing down to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). ¹⁰ The boundary then curves westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, running along the northern slopes of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), down to Beth-shemesh and over to Timnah. ¹¹ The boundary runs along the northern slopes of Ekron, passing on to Shikkeron, running along Mount Baalah and reaching up to Jabneel. This boundary ends at the sea. ¹² The western boundary lies along the shore of the Great Sea.^[b] This is the boundary that runs around the Judahites according to their clans.

¹³ Conquest by Caleb. Joshua gave Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, an inheritance among the Judahites, as the Lord had commanded: Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of the Anak.) ¹⁴ Caleb drove the three Anakim out from it, that is Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. They were descendants of Anak. ¹⁵ From there he marched out against the people living in Debir. (Debir was previously called Kiriath-sepher.) ^16 [c]Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” ¹⁷ Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it, so he gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. ¹⁸ One day she went up to him and she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What can I do for you?” ¹⁹ She answered, “Please do me a favor. Since you have already given me land in the Negeb, give me some springs as well.” He gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

²⁰ The Cities of Judah. This is the inheritance of the Judahites, divided according to its clans. ²¹ The cities at the edge of the land of the Judahites in the direction of the boundary with Edom in the south were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²² Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³ Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴ Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵ Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶ Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷ Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, ²⁸ Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹ Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰ Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹ Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³² Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. All together there were twenty-nine cities along with the towns dependent upon them.

³³ On the western slopes there were: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴ Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵ Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶ Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (that is, Gederothaim). There were fourteen of these cities along with their dependent towns. ³⁷ There were also Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, ³⁸ Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, ³⁹ Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰ Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish, ⁴¹ Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah. There were sixteen of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁴² There were also Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³ Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴ Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah. There were nine of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁴⁵ There was also Ekron with its dependent towns, ⁴⁶ and the territory between Ekron and the sea, near Ashdod, with all of their dependent towns. ⁴⁷ There was Ashdod along with its dependent towns and villages, as well as Gaza along with its dependent towns and villages, all the way to the Wadi of Egypt and the coast of the Great Sea.

⁴⁸ In the mountains there were Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹ Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰ Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹ Goshen, Holon, and Giloh. There were eleven of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁵² There were also Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³ Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴ Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior. There were nine of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁵⁵ There were also Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶ Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷ Kain, Gibbeah, and Timnah. There were ten of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁵⁸ There were also Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹ Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon. There were six of these cities, along with their dependent towns. ⁶⁰ There were also Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah. There were two of these cities along with their dependent towns.

⁶¹ In the wilderness there were Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶² Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi. There were six of these cities, along with their dependent towns. ⁶³ The Judahites could not drive out the Jebusites, the people who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the Judahites up to the present.

The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150^[a]

Psalm 146^[b]

Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer

^1 [c]Alleluia.

Psalm 147^[n]

Hymn to the City of God

^1 [o]Alleluia.

Prophecies Mainly in the Days of Jehoiakim

Chapter 7

True Worship.^{[a] 1} This is the word of the Lord that was delivered to Jeremiah: ² Stand at the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this message: Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord. ³ This is the message that the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, proclaims to you: Amend your ways and your deeds so that I may remain with you in this place. ⁴ Do not place your trust in these deceptive words: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.

⁵ However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; ⁶ if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, ⁷ then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago.

⁸ You have been placing your trust in deceitful words that are completely worthless. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, engage in perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods about whom you know nothing, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house which bears my name and say, “We are safe,” all the while intending to continue doing these abominable deeds? ¹¹ Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves? Be assured that I am fully aware of what you are doing, says the Lord.

¹² Go now to my shrine of Shiloh which I originally designated as the dwelling place of my name. There you can observe what I did to it as the result of the wickedness of my people Israel.^{[b] 13} And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and refused to listen when I spoke to you continuously, and would not answer when I called you, ¹⁴ I therefore will do to the house that bears my name, to this house in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, just what I did to Shiloh. ¹⁵ And I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim.

¹⁶ Abuses in Worship. For your part, Jeremiah, do not intercede for this people, do not raise a plea or a prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I will not listen to you. ¹⁷ Do you not observe what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather up the wood, their fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And to arouse my anger, they pour out drink offerings to other gods.

¹⁹ But am I the one whom they hurt? asks the Lord. Is it not rather themselves, to their own shame? ²⁰ Therefore, says the Lord God, my anger and wrath will pour forth on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruits of the earth, and burn without being quenched.

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and consume all the flesh yourselves. ²² For when I brought forth your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I gave them no commands in regard to burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ What I commanded them was this: Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. If you follow all the ways that I command you, then you will prosper.

²⁴ However, they did not obey or pay heed to my words. Rather, they persisted in following their own evil inclinations with stubborn hearts and turned their backs to me, not their faces. ²⁵ From the day your ancestors left Egypt until today, I unfailingly sent all my servants the prophets to them. ²⁶ Yet they have not listened to me or paid attention; instead they stiffened their necks and proved to be worse than their ancestors.

²⁷ When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not answer you. ²⁸ Then you are to say to them: This is the nation that did not obey the Lord, their God, or accept correction. Truth has perished. It no longer issues forth from their mouths.

³⁰ The people of Judah have perpetrated deeds that are evil in my sight, says the Lord. They have defiled the house that bears my name by setting up within it their loathsome idols. ³¹ Furthermore, they have built the high places of Topheth^[d] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—a deed that I never ordered and that never even entered my mind.

³² Therefore, beware, for the days are coming, says the Lord, when the names of Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom will no longer be used. They will rather be referred to as the Valley of Slaughter. Because of a scarcity of space, Topheth will become a burial ground. ³³ The corpses of this people will serve as food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth, and no one will frighten them away. ³⁴ In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I will banish all sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bridegroom and bride, for the entire land will have become a desert.

Encounters at Jerusalem

Chapter 21

The Entry into Jerusalem.^{[a] 1} When they drew near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent off two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village directly ahead of you, and as soon as you enter you will find a tethered donkey and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, tell them, ‘The Lord needs them.’ Then he will let you have them at once.” ⁴ This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet:

⁶ The disciples went off and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on their backs, and he sat on them.^{[c] 8} A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that preceded him and those that followed kept shouting:

¹⁰ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was filled with excitement. “Who is this?” the people asked, ¹¹ and the crowds replied, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹² Jesus Cleanses the Temple.^[e] Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those whom he found buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written:

¹⁴ The blind and the crippled came to him in the temple, and he cured them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes witnessed the wonderful things he was performing and heard the children crying out in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became infuriated ¹⁶ and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes. Have you never read the text:

¹⁷ Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

¹⁸ The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree.^[g] Early the next morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Noticing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went over to it but found nothing on its branches except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never give forth fruit again!” And instantly the fig tree withered away.

²⁰ When the disciples witnessed this, they were stunned, and they asked, “How could that fig tree wither away in an instant?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to this fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be accomplished. ²² Whatever you ask for in faith-filled prayer, you will receive.”

²³ The Authority of Jesus Questioned.^[h] When he entered the temple and began to teach, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus said to them in reply, “I will also ask you one question. If you give me an answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ Where did John’s baptism originate? From heaven or from men?”

They argued among themselves, “If we say: ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”

²⁷ Therefore, they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Then neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.^[i]

²⁸ The Parable of the Two Sons.^[j]“What is your opinion about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he had a change of heart and went. ³⁰ The father then gave the same instruction to the second son, who answered, ‘Of course I will,’ but then did not go. ³¹ Which of the two complied with his father’s instruction?” They responded, “The first.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to show you the path of righteousness, but you did not believe him, whereas the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. Yet even after you realized that, you still refused to change your minds and believe in him.

³³ The Parable of the Tenants.^[k]“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, fenced it in on all sides, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went off on a journey.

³⁴ “When the time for harvest approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the produce. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his servants and beat one of them, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again, he sent more servants, but they treated them in the same manner.

³⁷ “Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And so they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Now what do you think the owner of the vineyard will do to those tenants when he comes?” ⁴¹ They said to him, “He will kill those evil men, and then he will lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest.”

⁴² Jesus then said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce fruit in abundance. [ ⁴⁴ The one who falls on this stone will be broken into pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.]”^[l]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who regarded him as a prophet.