M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Ephraim’s Allocation
16 The territorial allotment for the descendants of Joseph proceeded from the Jordan River by Jericho eastward of the Jericho waters into the wilderness, proceeding from Jericho through the hill country of Bethel 2 and from Bethel to Luz, continuing to the border of the Archites at Ataroth. 3 It proceeded westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon, then toward Gezer, ending at the Mediterranean[a] Sea.
4 Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance. 5 This was the territory allocated to the descendants of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as upper Beth-horon. 6 Then the border proceeded west from Michmethath on the north, then turned east toward Taanath-shiloh, continuing to the east of Janoah. 7 It proceeded from Janoah to Ataroth, then to Naarah, then proceeded to Jericho and ended at the Jordan River. 8 From Tappuach, the border proceeded west to the Kanah brook, ending at the Mediterranean Sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim according to their families, 9 along with the cities that had been set aside for the descendants of Ephraim within the allotment of the descendants of Manasseh, including all of the cities and villages. 10 However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live within the territory of[b] Ephraim to this day, but they serve as forced laborers.
Manasseh’s Allocation
17 The territorial allotment for the tribe of Manasseh, the firstborn of Joseph, was allocated first[c] to Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of Gilead. Since he had been a man of war, Gilead and Bashan were allocated to him.[d]
2 Now allotments were made[e] with respect to the remaining descendants of Manasseh according to their families: for the descendants of Abiezer, the descendants of Helek, the descendants of Asriel, the descendants of Shechem, the descendants of Hepher, and the descendants of Shemida—the male descendants of Joseph’s son Manasseh, according to their families.
3 Hepher’s son Zelophehad, grandson of Gilead and great-grandson of Manasseh’s son Machir had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They appeared before Eleazar the priest and Nun’s son Joshua and declared, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our relatives.” So in keeping what the Lord had commanded, he gave them an inheritance among their ancestor’s relatives. 5 That is why ten allotments fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan River, 6 since the granddaughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. (The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.)
7 The border of Manasseh proceeded from Asher to Michmethath east of Shechem, then turned south to include the inhabitants of En-tappuach. 8 (The territory of Tappuach belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuach itself,[f] on the border of Manasseh, was allocated[g] to the descendants of Ephraim.) 9 The border proceeded to the Kanah brook and proceeded south. These cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, with the border of Manasseh on the north of the brook, terminating at the Mediterranean[h] Sea.
10 The southern area was allocated to Ephraim and the northern area to Manasseh. The Mediterranean[i] Sea was the border, extending to Asher on the North and to Issachar on the east. 11 In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh held Beth-shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the three coastal districts.[j] 12 The descendants of Manasseh did not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites predominated in that territory. 13 Later on, when the Israelis had become strong, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but they never did expel them completely.
Protests by the Tribe of Joseph
14 At that time, the descendants of Joseph asked Joshua, “Why did you give us[k] only one allotment and portion for an inheritance, since we’re numerous and the Lord has blessed us all along?”
15 So Joshua replied to them, “Since you’re so numerous, go up to the forest and clear ground there for yourselves in the territory where the Perizzites and Rephaim[l] are, because the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”
16 The descendants of Joseph replied, “The hill country isn’t sufficient for us, but all the Canaanites who live on the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shean and its villages as well as the inhabitants of the Jezreel Valley.”
17 So Joshua told the tribes of Joseph, which were Ephraim and Manasseh, “You’re truly a numerous group, and you have great power. You are not to have only one allotment, 18 but the hill country will also belong to you. Even though it’s a forest, you will clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. You’ll drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they’re strong.”
Let All the Earth Praise the Lord
148 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord from heaven;
praise him in the highest places.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his armies!
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.[a]
4 Praise him, you heaven of heavens,
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he himself gave the command that they be created.
6 He set them in place to last forever and ever;
he gave the command and will not rescind it.
7 Praise the Lord, you from the earth,
you creatures of the sea
and all you depths,
8 fire, hail, snow, fog, and wind storm
that carry out his command,[b]
9 mountains and every hill,
fruit trees and cedars,
10 living creatures and livestock,
insects and flying birds,
11 earthly kings and all peoples,
nobles and all court officials of the earth,
12 young men and young women alike,
along with older people and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is lifted up;
his majesty transcends earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a source of strength[c] for his people,
an object of praise for all of his holy ones,
that is, for the people of Israel who are near him.
Hallelujah!
8 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “the bones of the king of Judah, the bones of his officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2 They’ll be spread out to the sun, the moon, and all the stars of the heavens, which they loved and served,[a] and which they followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones[b] won’t be collected, nor will they be buried. They’ll be like dung on the surface of the ground.
3 “In all the places where the people[c] remain, where I’ve banished them, death will be chosen over life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
A Stubborn People
4 “You are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“Will a person fall down and then not get up?
Will someone turn away[d] and then not turn back again?[e]
5 Why has this people turned away?[f]
Why does Jerusalem continue in apostasy?
They hold on to deceit and refuse to repent.
6 I’ve listened and I’ve heard,
and what they say is not right.
No one repents of his evil and says,
‘What have I done?’
“They all turn to their own course
like a horse racing into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons,
and the dove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time for migration.
But my people don’t know
the requirements[g] of the Lord.
8 How can you say, ‘We’re wise,
and the Law of the Lord is with us,’
when, in fact, the deceitful pen of the scribe has made it
into something that deceives.
9 The wise men will be put to shame.
They’ll be dismayed and taken captive.
Look, they have rejected the message from the Lord!
So what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore, I’ll give their wives to others,
and their fields to new owners.
Indeed, from the least important to the most important,
they’re all greedy for dishonest gain.
From prophet to priest,
they all act deceitfully.
11 They have treated my people’s[h] wound
superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed because they have done
what is repugnant to God?[i]
They weren’t ashamed at all;
they don’t even know how to blush!
Therefore they’ll fall with those who fall.
When I punish them, they’ll be brought down,”
says the Lord.
13 “I would have gathered them,”
declares the Lord,
“but there were no grapes on the vine,
and no figs on the fig tree,
and their leaves were withered.
What I’ve given them has been taken away.”’”
The People Respond
14 Why are we sitting here?
Join together! Let’s go to the fortified cities
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has condemned us to perish
and given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against him.[j]
15 We waited for peace, but no good has come,
for a time of healing, but instead there was terror.
The Lord’s Warning
16 “The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan.
At the neighing of their stallions,
the whole earth quakes.
They’re coming to devour
the land and all it contains,
the city and all who live in it.
17 Look, I’ll send snakes among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,
and they’ll bite you.”
Jeremiah Mourns for His People
18 Incurable sorrow has overwhelmed me,
my heart is sick within me.
19 Listen! My people[k] cry
from a distant land:
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her king no longer there?”
The Lord Speaks
“Why did they provoke me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign gods?”
The People Speak
20 The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we haven’t been delivered.
The Prophet Mourns
The Parable about a Banquet(A)
22 Again Jesus spoke to them in parables. He said, 2 “The kingdom from[a] heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. 4 So[b] he sent other servants after saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!”’ 5 But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The rest grabbed the king’s[c] servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them. 7 Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he told his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.’ 10 Those servants went out into the streets and brought in everyone they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests.
11 “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man[d] was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the darkness outside!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,[e] 14 because many are invited, but few are chosen.”
A Question about Paying Taxes(B)
15 Then the Pharisees went and planned how to trap Jesus[f] in conversation. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.[g] They said, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere and that you teach the way of God truthfully. You don’t favor any individual, because you pay no attention to external appearance. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 Recognizing their wickedness, Jesus asked, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.”
They brought him a denarius.[h] 20 Then he asked them, “Whose face and name is this?”
21 They told him, “Caesar’s.”
So he told them, “Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. Then they left him and went away.
A Question about the Resurrection(C)
23 That same day some Sadducees, who claim there is no resurrection, came to Jesus[i] and asked him, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for his brother.’[j] 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened with the second brother, and then the third, and finally with the rest of the brothers.[k] 27 Finally, the woman died, too. 28 Now in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be, since all of them had married[l] her?”
29 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power, 30 because in the resurrection, people[m] neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels[n] in heaven. 31 As for the resurrection from the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God when he said, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?[o] He[p] is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
The Greatest Commandment(D)
34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus[q] had silenced the Sadducees, they met together in the same place. 35 One of them, an expert in the Law, tested him by asking, 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus[r] told him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[s] 38 This is the greatest and most important[t] commandment. 39 The second is exactly like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’[u] 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
A Question about David’s Son(E)
41 While the Pharisees were still[v] gathered, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah?[w] Whose son is he?”
They told him, “David’s.”
43 He asked them, “Then how can David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord’ when he says,
44 ‘The Lord[x] told my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’?[y]
45 If David calls him ‘Lord’, how can he be his son?”
46 No one could answer him at all,[z] and from that day on no one dared to ask him another question.
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