M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Ai Destroyed
8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you. Arise, and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land into your hand. 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its spoils and its livestock. Now set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, mighty men of valor, and sent them out at night. 4 He commanded them, “You shall ambush the city from behind. Do not go very far from the city. All of you be ready. 5 I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to engage us as before, we will flee from them. 6 They will come after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will think, ‘They are fleeing from us as before!’ So we will flee from them. 7 Then you shall rise up for the ambush and take possession of the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hands. 8 When you have seized the city, set it on fire. Act according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.”
9 So Joshua sent them out. They went to the place of ambush and took up a position between Bethel and Ai, westward of Ai, and Joshua spent the night among the people.
10 Joshua got up early in the morning and mustered the people. He and the elders of Israel went up before the people to Ai. 11 All the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near to the city. They camped north of Ai, and there was a valley between them and Ai. 12 He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, westward of the city. 13 So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurriedly got up early and went out to engage Israel in battle at the assembly point near the Arabah. Yet he did not know that there was an ambush for him behind the city. 15 So Joshua and all Israel allowed themselves to be beaten before them, and they fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16 All the people who were in Ai were assembled to pursue them, so they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city wide open, and they pursued Israel.
18 The Lord said to Joshua, “Point toward Ai with the sword that is in your hand, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua pointed toward the city with the sword in his hand. 19 When his hand pointed, the men in ambush got up quickly from their place and ran. They came into the city, captured it, and quickly set the city on fire.
20 The men of Ai turned around and looked, and there from the city came smoke rising to the sky! They could not flee in any direction, and the people who had fled into the wilderness had turned back toward their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that smoke rose from it, they turned and struck down the men of Ai. 22 Then the men in the city came out to engage them in battle, so they were now in the middle, with Israel on each side. Israel struck them down until neither survivors nor escapees were left. 23 They took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel completed killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they had pursued them, and when all of them had finally fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 All who had fallen that day, men and women, numbered twelve thousand, all the people of Ai. 26 Joshua did not draw back his hand with the stretched-out sword until he destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Israel plundered only the livestock and the spoil of that city for themselves, according to the word of the Lord that He had commanded Joshua.
28 Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day. 29 The king of Ai hanged on a tree until evening. At sunset, Joshua commanded that the people take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the city gate. They erected a large heap of stones over it that remains to this day.
The Covenant Renewal at Mount Ebal
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel. As is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, it was “an altar of uncut stones not shaped by iron tools.” They sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord on it, as well as peace offerings. 32 There in the presence of the children of Israel he wrote a copy of the Law of Moses on the stones. 33 All Israel, resident alien and native alike, with its elders, officials, and judges, were standing on either side of the ark in front of the Levite priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded from the beginning, in order to bless the people of Israel.
34 After this, Joshua read out all the words of the law, both blessing and curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word from all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read out before the whole assembly of Israel, with the women, the children, and the resident aliens who were among them.
Psalm 139
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, You have searched me
and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
You understand my thought from far off.
3 You search my path and my lying down
and are aware of all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
but behold, O Lord, You know it fully.
5 You put Yourself behind and before me,
and keep Your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is lofty, and I cannot fathom it.
7 Where shall I go from Your spirit,
or where shall I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell at the end of the sea,
10 even there Your hand shall guide me,
and Your right hand shall take hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light shall be as night about me,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to You,
but the night shines as the day,
for the darkness is like light to You.
13 You brought my inner parts into being;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder;
marvelous are Your works,
and You know me completely.
15 My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
and intricately put together in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me unformed,
yet in Your book
all my days were written,
before any of them came into being.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to 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 You.
19 If only You would slay the wicked, O God!
O violent men, depart from me.
20 For they speak against You with malice,
and Your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not abhor those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me, and know my concerns,
24 and see if there is any rebellious way in me,
and lead me in the ancient way.
God Pleads With Israel to Repent
2 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying,
Thus says the Lord:
I remember you, the kindness of your youth,
the love of your espousals,
when you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel is holy to the Lord,
and the first fruits of His harvest.
All who eat of it will become guilty;
disaster will come upon them,
says the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob
and all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord:
What iniquity have your fathers found in Me,
that they have gone far from Me,
and have walked after vanity
and have become vain?
6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
who 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 lived?”
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country
to eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say,
“Where is the Lord?”
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
the shepherds also transgressed against Me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore I will yet contend with you,
says the Lord,
and with your sons’ sons I will contend.
10 For pass over the coastlands of Cyprus and see,
and send to Kedar and consider diligently,
and see if there is such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed their gods,
though they are not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished at this, O heavens,
and be horribly afraid, be very desolate,
says the Lord.
13 For My people have committed two evils.
They have forsaken Me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out for themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave?
Why has he been plundered?
15 The young lions roared at him
and roared loudly,
and they made his land a waste;
his cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
16 Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself,
in that you have forsaken the Lord your God
when He led you in the way?
18 And now what are you doing in the way of Egypt,
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what are you doing in the way of Assyria,
to drink the waters of the River?
19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
and your backslidings will reprove you.
Know therefore and see
that it is an evil thing and bitter for you
to have forsaken the Lord your God,
and the fear of Me is not in you,
says the Lord God of Hosts.
20 For long ago I have broken your yoke
and burst your bonds;
and you said, “I will not serve.”
For upon every high hill
and under every green tree
you wander, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine,
a wholly faithful seed.
How then have you turned
into the degenerate plant of a strange vine to Me?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye,
and take much soap,
yet your iniquity is marked before Me,
says the Lord God.
23 How can you say, “I am not polluted,
I have not gone after the Baals”?
See your way in the valley.
Know what you have done.
You are a swift young camel
entangling her ways,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness
that sniffs the wind in her passion.
In the time of her heat, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves;
in her month they shall find her.
25 Withhold your foot from being unshod
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, “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 found,
so is the house of Israel ashamed.
They, their kings, their officials,
and their priests, and their prophets
27 say to a tree, “You are my father.”
And to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
For they have turned their back to Me,
and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
“Arise and save us.”
28 But where are your gods that you have made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you
in the time of your trouble;
for according to the number of your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29 Why will you plead with Me?
You all have transgressed against Me,
says the Lord.
30 In vain I have smitten your children;
they received no correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a destroying lion.
31 O generation, consider the word of the Lord:
Have I been a wilderness to Israel?
A land of darkness?
Why do My people say, “We are free to roam.
We will come no more to You”?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
for days without number.
33 You prepare your way very well to seek love.
Therefore you have also taught the wicked women your ways.
34 Also in your skirts is found
the blood of the souls of the innocent poor.
I have not found it by breaking in,
but in spite of all these things.
35 Yet you say, “Because I am innocent,
surely His anger shall turn away from me.”
Now I will plead with you,
because you say, “I have not sinned.”
36 Why do you go about so much
to change your way?
You also shall be ashamed of Egypt,
as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37 Indeed, you shall go forth from him
with your hands upon your head;
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you shall not prosper in them.
The Demand for a Sign(A)
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, testing Him, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and overcast.’ O you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” So He left them and departed.
The Yeast of Pharisees and Sadducees(B)
5 But when His disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
8 But when Jesus perceived it, He said to them, “O you of little faith, why reason among yourselves, that it is because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you collected? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I spoke to you not concerning bread, but that you should beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter’s Declaration About Jesus(C)
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 They said, “Some say that You are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples to tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection(D)
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him and began rebuking Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall not happen to You.”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man shall come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man according to his works. 28 Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.