M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Land for Ephraim and Manasseh
16 This is the land the tribe of Joseph received. It started at the Jordan River near Jericho and continued to the waters of Jericho, just east of the city. The border went up from Jericho to the mountains of Bethel. 2 Then it continued from Bethel (also called Luz) to the Arkite border at Ataroth. 3 From there it went west to the border of the Japhletites and continued to the area of the Lower Beth Horon. Then it went to Gezer and ended at the sea.
4 So Manasseh and Ephraim, sons of Joseph, received their land.
5 This is the land that was given to the family groups of Ephraim: Their border started at Ataroth Addar in the east, went to Upper Beth Horon, 6 and then to the sea. From Micmethath it turned eastward toward Taanath Shiloh and continued eastward to Janoah. 7 Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah. It continued until it touched Jericho and stopped at the Jordan River. 8 The border went from Tappuah west to Kanah Ravine and ended at the sea. This is all the land that was given to each family group in the tribe of the Ephraimites. 9 Many of the towns were actually within Manasseh’s borders, but the people of Ephraim got those towns and their villages. 10 The Ephraimites could not force the Canaanites to leave Gezer, so the Canaanites still live among the Ephraimites today, but they became slaves of the Ephraimites.
17 Then land was given to the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s first son. Manasseh’s first son was Makir, the father of Gilead. Makir was a great soldier, so the lands of Gilead and Bashan were given to his family. 2 Land was also given to the other family groups of Manasseh—Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were all the other sons of Manasseh son of Joseph.
3 Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, who was the son of Gilead, who was the son of Makir, who was the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad had no sons, but he had five daughters, named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They went to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and all the leaders. They said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land like the men received.” So Eleazar obeyed the Lord and gave the daughters some land, just like the brothers of their father. 5 So the tribe of Manasseh had ten sections of land west of the Jordan River and two more sections, Gilead and Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan River. 6 The daughters of Manasseh received land just as the sons did. Gilead was given to the rest of the families of Manasseh.
7 The lands of Manasseh were in the area between Asher and Micmethath, near Shechem. The border went south to the En Tappuah area, 8 which belonged to Manasseh, except for the town of Tappuah. It was along the border of Manasseh’s land and belonged to the sons of Ephraim. 9 The border of Manasseh continued south to Kanah Ravine. The cities in this area of Manasseh belonged to Ephraim. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the ravine and went to the sea. 10 The land to the south belonged to Ephraim, and the land to the north belonged to Manasseh. The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. The border touched Asher’s land on the north and Issachar’s land on the east.
11 In the areas of Issachar and Asher, the people of Manasseh owned these towns: Beth Shan and its small towns; Ibleam and its small towns; the people who lived in Dor and its small towns; the people in Naphoth Dor and its small towns; the people who lived in Taanach and its small towns; the people in Megiddo and its small towns. 12 Manasseh was not able to defeat those cities, so the Canaanites continued to live there. 13 When the Israelites grew strong, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, although they did not force them to leave the land.
14 The people from the tribes of Joseph said to Joshua, “You gave us only one area of land, but we are many people. Why did you give us only one part of all the land the Lord gave his people?”
15 And Joshua answered them, “If you have too many people, go up to the forest and make a place for yourselves to live there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaites. The mountain country of Ephraim is too small for you.”
16 The people of Joseph said, “It is true. The mountain country of Ephraim is not enough for us, but the land where the Canaanites live is dangerous. They are skilled fighters. They have powerful weapons in Beth Shan and all the small towns in that area, and they are also in the Valley of Jezreel.”
17 Then Joshua said to the people of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh, “There are many of you, and you have great power. You should be given more than one share of land. 18 You also will have the mountain country. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. You will own all of it because you will force the Canaanites to leave the land even though they have powerful weapons and are strong.”
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the skies.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord,
because they were created by his command.
6 He put them in place forever and ever;
he made a law that will never change.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea animals and all the oceans,
8 lightning and hail, snow and mist,
and stormy winds that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord,
because he alone is great.
He is more wonderful than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him;
he should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
8 “‘The Lord says: At that time they will remove from their tombs the bones of Judah’s kings and officers, priests and prophets, and the people of Jerusalem. 2 The bones will be spread on the ground under the sun, moon, and stars that the people loved and served and went after and searched for and worshiped. No one will gather up the bones and bury them. So they will be like dung thrown on the ground. 3 I will force the people of Judah to leave their homes and their land. Those of this evil family who are not dead will wish they were, says the Lord All-Powerful.’
Sin and Punishment
4 “Say to the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord says:
When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
And when someone goes the wrong way, doesn’t he turn back?
5 Why, then, have the people of Jerusalem gone the wrong way
and not turned back?
They believe their own lies
and refuse to turn around and come back.
6 I have listened to them very carefully,
but they do not say what is right.
They do not feel sorry about their wicked ways,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each person goes his own way,
like a horse charging into a battle.
7 Even the birds in the sky
know the right times to do things.
The storks, doves, swifts, and thrushes
know when it is time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
what the Lord wants them to do.
8 “‘You keep saying, “We are wise,
because we have the teachings of the Lord.”
But actually, those who explain the Scriptures
have written lies with their pens.
9 These wise teachers refused to listen to the word of the Lord,
so they are not really wise at all.
They will be ashamed.
They will be shocked and trapped.
10 So I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,
is greedy for money.
Even the prophets and priests
all tell lies.
11 They tried to heal my people’s serious injuries
as if they were small wounds.
They said, “It’s all right, it’s all right.”
But really, it is not all right.
12 They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act,
but they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t even know how to blush about their sins.
So they will fall, along with everyone else.
They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them, says the Lord.
13 “‘I will take away their crops, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine
and no figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves will dry up and die.
I will take away what I gave them.’”
14 “Why are we just sitting here?
Let’s get together!
We have sinned against the Lord,
so he has given us poisoned water to drink.
Come, let’s run to the strong, walled cities.
The Lord our God has decided that we must die,
so let’s die there.
15 We hoped to have peace,
but nothing good has come.
We hoped for a time when he would heal us,
but only terror has come.
16 From the land of Dan,
the snorting of the enemy’s horses is heard.
The ground shakes from the neighing of their large horses.
They have come and destroyed
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.”
17 “Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you.
These snakes cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Sadness
18 God, you are my comfort when I am very sad
and when I am afraid.
19 Listen to the sound of my people.
They cry from a faraway land:
“Isn’t the Lord still in Jerusalem?
Isn’t Jerusalem’s king still there?”
But God says, “Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols,
useless foreign idols?”
20 And the people say, “Harvest time is over;
summer has ended,
and we have not been saved.”
21 Because my people are crushed, I am crushed.
I cry loudly and am afraid for them.
22 Isn’t there balm in the land of Gilead?
Isn’t there a doctor there?
So why aren’t the hurts of my people healed?
A Story About a Wedding Feast
22 Jesus again used stories to teach them. He said, 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 3 The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people, but they refused to come.
4 “Then the king sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the dinner, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’
5 “But the people refused to listen to the servants and left to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business. 6 Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. 7 The king was furious and sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their city.
8 “After that, the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not worthy to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite everyone you find to come to my feast.’ 10 So the servants went into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not dressed for a wedding. 12 The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not dressed for a wedding.’ But the man said nothing. 13 So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
14 “Yes, many are invited, but only a few are chosen.”
Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?
15 Then the Pharisees left that place and made plans to trap Jesus in saying something wrong. 16 They sent some of their own followers and some people from the group called Herodians.[a] They said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man and that you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But knowing that these leaders were trying to trick him, Jesus said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” So the men showed him a coin.[b] 20 Then Jesus asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”
21 The men answered, “Caesar’s.”
Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.
Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) 24 They said, “Teacher, Moses said if a married man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. 25 Once there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died. Since he had no children, his brother married the widow. 26 Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother and all the other brothers. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Since all seven men had married her, when people rise from the dead, whose wife will she be?”
29 Jesus answered, “You don’t understand, because you don’t know what the Scriptures say, and you don’t know about the power of God. 30 When people rise from the dead, they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 31 Surely you have read what God said to you about rising from the dead. 32 God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[c] God is the God of the living, not the dead.”
33 When the people heard this, they were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.
The Most Important Command
34 When the Pharisees learned that the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them, the Pharisees met together. 35 One Pharisee, who was an expert on the law of Moses, asked Jesus this question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”
37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[d] 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’[e] 40 All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”
Jesus Questions the Pharisees
41 While the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
They answered, “The Christ is the Son of David.”
43 Then Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David, speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit, said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right side,
until I put your enemies under your control.”’ Psalm 110:1
45 David calls the Christ ‘Lord,’ so how can the Christ be his son?”
46 None of the Pharisees could answer Jesus’ question, and after that day no one was brave enough to ask him any more questions.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.