M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
8 Then Adonai said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land into your hand. 2 Then you will do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king—except you will take its spoil and its cattle as booty for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3 So Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up to Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them at night. 4 He commanded them saying: “Look, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Don’t go too far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5 Then I and all the troops with me will approach the city. Then it will be when they come out against us, like the first time, that we will flee before them. 6 So they will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will think, ‘They are fleeing before us like the first time.’ While we are fleeing before them, 7 you will rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Adonai your God will give it into your hand. 8 Now when you have seized the city, you will set the city on fire—according to the word of Adonai you must do. See that you do as I have ordered you.”
9 So Joshua sent them off, and they went to the ambush site, taking position between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people. 10 Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people. He and the elders of Israel marched before the people to Ai. 11 All the people of war with him went up, advanced, and came in front of the city. They camped to the north of Ai, with a valley between him and Ai. 12 But he had taken about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So they stationed the people, the main army that was to the north of the city, and its rear guard to the west of the city. Then Joshua walked that night in the midst of the valley.
14 So it came to pass when the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose up early, and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place facing the Arabah. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 So Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 Then all the people who were in Ai were summoned 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, so they left the city open as they chased after Israel.
18 Then Adonai said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 As soon as he stretched out his hand, the ambush arose quickly from their place, ran and entered the city and captured it; and immediately set the city on fire. 20 Now the men of Ai looked back and saw, behold, the smoke of the city rising up to the sky! They had no place to flee this way or that, since the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city rose up, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 The others also came out of the city against them, so they were surrounded by Israel, some on this side and some on that side. They struck them down until not one survivor or fugitive was left. 23 But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 After Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as their booty, according to the word of Adonai which He had commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burnt Ai and made it a permanent heap of desolation to this day. 29 Then he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. At sunset Joshua commanded that they take his carcass down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and piled over it a great heap of stones, which remains to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to Adonai, God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of Adonai had commanded Bnei-Yisrael, as written in the scroll of the Torah of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded any iron tool. They offered on it burnt offerings to Adonai and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32 There on the stones he wrote a copy of the Torah of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of Bnei-Yisrael. 33 Then all Israel, with their elders and officials, and their judges, were standing on both sides of the ark facing the Levitical kohanim carrying the ark of the covenant of Adonai—the outsider as well as the native-born. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal—just as Moses the servant of Adonai had commanded before—in order to bless the people of Israel.
34 Then afterward he read all the words of the Torah—the blessing and the curse—according to all that is written in the book of the Torah. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, including the women and the little ones and the outsiders walking among them.
How Precious Your Thoughts!
Psalm 139
1 For the music director: a psalm of David.
Adonai, You searched me and know me.
2 Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it.
You discern my thinking from afar.
3 You observe my journeying and my resting
and You are familiar with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, Adonai, You know all about it.
5 You hemmed me in behind and before,
and laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from Your Ruach?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, You are there,
and if I make my bed in Sheol,
look, You are there too.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn
and settle on the other side of the sea,
10 even there Your hand will lead me,
and Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say: “Surely darkness covers me,
night keeps light at a distance from me,”
12 even darkness is not dark for You,
and night is as bright as day—
darkness and light are alike.
13 For You have created my conscience.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise You, for I am awesomely, wonderfully made!
Wonderful are Your works—
and my soul knows that very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was unformed,
and in Your book were written the days that were formed—
when not one of them had come to be.
17 How precious are Your thoughts, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand!
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 If only You would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloody men!
20 For they speak about You with wicked intent.
Your enemies reproach You in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Adonai?
Do I not loathe those who rise against You?
22 I hate them with total hatred—
I consider them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Examine me, and know my anxious thoughts,
24 and see if there be any offensive way within me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Judah Rebuked for Her Sins
2 Again the word of Adonai came to me, saying: 2 “Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, thus says Adonai:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
and the way you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was kadosh to Adonai,
the firstfruits of the harvest.[a]
All who devoured him were held guilty.
Catastrophe overtook them.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
4 Hear the word of Adonai, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says Adonai:
“What fault did your fathers find in Me
that they strayed so far from Me?
They walked after worthless things,
becoming worthless themselves?[b]
6 They did not ask ‘Where is Adonai,
who brought us up from the land of Egypt
and led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
through a land of drought and distress,
through a land where no one travels,
where no one lives?’
7 Yet I brought you into a fertile land,
to eat of its fruit and goodness.
When you came, you defiled My land.
You made My heritage an abomination.
8 The kohanim did not ask,
‘Where is Adonai?’
The Torah experts did not know Me.
The shepherds rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after unprofitable things.
9 Therefore I will plead with you again!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“I will contend with your children’s children.
10 Cross to the coasts of Kittim[c] and see!
Send to Kedar, and observe carefully.
See if there has been anything like this.
11 Has a nation changed its gods—
even though they are not gods?
Yet My people have exchanged their glory
for worthless things.
12 Be appalled at this, O heavens!
Be utterly horrified and dumbfounded.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me
—the spring of living water—
and they dug their own cisterns—
cracked cisterns that hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant—a slave by birth?
Then why has he become plunder?
15 Young lions have roared at him
they have roared loudly.
They made his land a waste—
his cities are in ruins and uninhabited.
16 Even the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes
have grazed on the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself,
when He led you in the way?
18 But now, what is on the road to Egypt?
Drinking the waters of the Nile?
Or what is on the road to Assyria?
Drinking the waters of the Euphrates?
19 Your own wickedness will rebuke you
and your backslidings will chide you.
Know then and see
how bad and bitter it is for you
to forsake Adonai your God.
Nor is fear of Me in you.”
It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot.
20 “Indeed, long ago I broke your yoke
and tore off your bonds.
You said, ‘I will not serve!’
Instead, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawled out as a prostitute.
21 Yet I had planted you as a choice vine
from completely faithful seed.
How then did you become to Me
a wandering wild vine?
22 Even though you wash with lye
and use an abundance of soap,
the stain of your iniquity is before Me.”
It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled—
I have not gone after the Baalim[d]?
Look at your behavior in the Valley!
Recognize what you have done.
You are a swift young camel
galloping aimlessly,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness—
sniffing the wind in her passion—
in her heat, who can restrain her?
All males that pursue her will not tire themselves.
At mating time they will find her.
25 Do not run while your feet are bare
and your throat is thirsty.
But you said ‘There is no hope!
No! For I have loved foreign gods
and I will go after them.’
26 As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel is shamed—
they, their kings, their princes,
their kohanim and their prophets.
27 They say to wood, ‘You are my father’
and to a stone, ‘You birthed me.’
They have turned their back to Me
and not their face.
Yet when they are in trouble
they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’
28 Where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them come—if they can save you
when you are in trouble!
For you have as many gods
as you have cities, O Judah.
29 Why do you strive with Me?
You have all rebelled against Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
30 “In vain I struck your children.
They took no correction.
Your sword devoured your prophets
like a ravaging lion.”
31 You, generation, heed Adonai’s word!
“Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam.
We won’t come to You any more’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me,
days without number.
33 How clever are your ways of seeking love.
Therefore you even taught wicked women your ways.
34 Moreover on your skirts is found
the blood of the innocent poor
—you did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things,
35 you say, ‘I am innocent—
surely His anger is turned away from me?’
See, I will pass judgment on you,
since you say: ‘I haven’t sinned!’
36 Why do you make light of
changing your way?
You will be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 You will also go out from there
with your hands on your head.
For Adonai has rejected those in whom you trust—
you will not prosper by them.”
Religious Leaders Demand Signs
16 Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Yeshua, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “When evening comes, you say, ‘Fair weather coming, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Stormy weather today, for the sky is red and gloomy.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times! 4 An evil and adulterous generation clamors for a sign, yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”[a] And leaving them behind, He went away.
5 Now when the disciples came to the other side of the sea, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 “Watch out,” Yeshua said to them, “and beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
8 But knowing this, Yeshua said, “O you of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 You still don’t get it? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets of leftovers you gathered? 10 Or how about the seven loaves for the four thousand and all the baskets of leftovers you gathered? 11 How is it that you don’t understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Now beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that He wasn’t talking about the hametz in the bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The Father Reveals His Son
13 When Yeshua came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 They answered, “Some say John the Immerser, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 He said, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Yeshua said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven! 18 And I also tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My community[b]; and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven.” 20 Then He ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.
First Prediction: Death and Resurrection
21 From that time on, Yeshua began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Never, Master! This must never happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”
24 Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then ‘He will repay everyone according to his deeds.’ [c] 28 Amen, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.