M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Achan’s Sin
7 But the Israelites did not obey God. There was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan son of Carmi, grandson of Zimri, great-grandson of Zerah. Achan kept some of the things that should have been destroyed. So the Lord became very angry with the Israelites.
2 After they defeated Jericho, Joshua sent some men to Ai.[a] Ai was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He told them, “Go to Ai and look for weaknesses in that area.” So the men went to spy on that land.
3 Later, the men came back to Joshua. They said, “Ai is a weak area. We will not need all of our people to defeat them. Send 2000 or 3000 men to fight there. There is no need to use the whole army. There are only a few men there to fight against us.”
4-5 So about 3000 men went to Ai, but the people of Ai killed about 36 men of Israel. And the Israelites ran away. The people of Ai chased them from the city gates all the way to the quarries.[b] The people of Ai beat them badly.
When the people from Israel saw this, they became very frightened and lost their courage. 6 When Joshua heard about this, he tore his clothes to show his sadness. He bowed down to the ground before the Holy Box and stayed there until evening. The leaders of Israel did the same thing. They also threw dirt on their heads to show their sadness.
7 Joshua said, “Lord God, you brought our people across the Jordan River. Why did you bring us this far and then allow the Amorites to destroy us? We should have been satisfied and stayed on the other side of the Jordan River. 8 I promise by my life, Lord! There is nothing I can say now. Israel has surrendered to the enemy. 9 The Canaanites and all the other people in this country will hear about what happened. Then they will attack us and kill all of us! Then what will you do to protect your great name?”
10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Why are you down there with your face on the ground? Stand up! 11 The Israelites sinned against me. They have broken the agreement that I commanded them to obey. They took some of the things that I commanded them to destroy. They have stolen from me. They have lied. They have taken those things for themselves. 12 That is why the army of Israel turned and ran away from the fight. They did that because they have done wrong. They should be destroyed. I will not continue to help you or be with you unless you destroy everything I commanded you to destroy.
13 “Now go and make the people pure. Tell them, ‘Make yourselves pure. Prepare for tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, says that some people are keeping things that he commanded to be destroyed. You will never be able to defeat your enemies until you throw away those things.
14 “Tomorrow morning you must all stand before the Lord. All the tribes will stand before the Lord, and he will choose one tribe. Only that tribe will stand before him. Then the Lord will choose one family group from that tribe. Only that family group must stand before him. Then he will look at each family in that family group, and the Lord will choose one family. Then he will look at each man in that family. 15 The man who is keeping those things that we should have destroyed will be caught. Then he will be destroyed by fire, and everything that he owns will be destroyed with him. He broke the agreement with the Lord. He has done a very bad thing to the Israelites!”
16 Early the next morning, Joshua led out all the Israelites. Each tribe came forward to stand before the Lord, and he chose the tribe of Judah. 17 So then all the family groups of Judah stood before the Lord, and he chose the Zerah family group. Then all the families of the Zerah group stood before the Lord, and he chose the family of Zimri. 18 Then Joshua told all the men in that family to come before the Lord. He chose Achan the son of Carmi. (Carmi was the son of Zimri. And Zimri was the son of Zerah.)
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “Son, you must honor the Lord, the God of Israel. Praise him and confess your sins to him. Tell me what you did, and don’t try to hide anything from me.”
20 Achan answered, “It is true! I sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: 21 In Jericho, I saw a beautiful coat from Babylonia,[c] about 5 pounds[d] of silver, and about a pound[e] of gold. I wanted these things for myself, so I took them. You will find them buried in the ground under my tent. The silver is under the coat.”
22 So Joshua sent some men to the tent. They ran to the tent and found the things hidden there. The silver was under the coat. 23 The men brought the things out of the tent and took them to Joshua and all the Israelites. They threw them on the ground before the Lord.
24 Then Joshua and all the people led Achan son of Zerah to the Valley of Achor. They also took the silver, the coat, the gold, Achan’s sons and daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything he owned. They took all these things to the Valley of Achor with Achan. 25 Then Joshua said, “You caused much trouble for us, but now the Lord will bring trouble to you.” Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they died. Then the people burned them and everything he owned. 26 After they burned Achan, they put many rocks over his body. The rocks are still there today. That is why it is called the Valley of Achor.[f] After this the Lord was not angry with the people.
137 We sat by the rivers in Babylon
and cried as we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps nearby, there on the willow trees.[a]
3 There in Babylon, those who captured us told us to sing.
Our enemies told us to entertain them.
They said, “Sing us one of your songs about Zion.”
4 But we cannot sing the Lord’s songs
in a foreign country!
5 Jerusalem, if I ever forget you,
may I never play a song again.
6 If I fail to remember you,
may I never sing again.
I will always remember Jerusalem
as my greatest joy!
7 Lord, be sure to punish the Edomites for what they did
when Jerusalem was captured.
They shouted, “Destroy its buildings!
Pull them down to the ground!”
8 Babylon, you will be destroyed!
Bless the one who pays you back for what you did to us.
9 Bless the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them against a rock.
A song of David.
138 Lord, I praise you with all my heart.
I sing songs of praise to you before the gods.
2 I bow down toward your holy Temple,
and I praise your name for your love and loyalty.
You are famous,
and doing what you promised will make you even more famous!
3 When I called to you for help,
you answered me and gave me strength.
4 Lord, all the kings on earth will praise you
when they hear what you say.
5 They will sing about what the Lord has done,
because the glory of the Lord is very great.
6 The Lord has the highest place above all others,
but he still cares for the humble.
Even from there, so high above,
he knows what the proud do.
7 If I am in trouble, you keep me alive.
If my enemies are angry, you save me from them.
8 Lord, I know you will do what you have promised.
Lord, your faithful love will last forever.
You are the one who made us, so don’t leave us!
1 These are the messages of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah belonged to the family of priests who lived in the town of Anathoth.[a] That town is in the land that belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. 2 The Lord began to speak to Jeremiah in the 13th year[b] that Josiah, son of Amon, was king of the nation of Judah. 3 He continued to speak to Jeremiah during the time that Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was king of Judah and during the eleven years and five months that Zedekiah, also a son of Josiah, was king of Judah. In the fifth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king, the people who lived in Jerusalem were taken away into exile.
God Calls Jeremiah
4 The Lord’s message came to me:
5 “Before I made you in your mother’s womb,
I knew you.
Before you were born,
I chose you for a special work.
I chose you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “But, Lord God, I don’t know how to speak. I am only a boy.”
7 But the Lord said to me,
“Don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’
You must go everywhere I send you
and say everything I tell you to say.
8 Don’t be afraid of anyone.
I am with you, and I will protect you.”
This message is from the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out with his hand and touched my mouth. He said to me,
“Jeremiah, I am putting my words in your mouth.
10 Today I have put you in charge of nations and kingdoms.
You will pull up and tear down.
You will destroy and overthrow.
You will build up and plant.”
Two Visions
11 The Lord’s message came to me: “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “I see a stick made from almond wood.”
12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen very well, and I am watching[c] to make sure that my message to you comes true.”
13 The Lord’s message came to me again: “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “I see a pot of boiling water. That pot is tipping over from the north.”
14 The Lord said to me, “Something terrible will come from the north.
It will happen to all the people who live in this country.
15 In a short time I will call all the people in the northern kingdoms.”
This is what the Lord said.
“The kings of those countries will come
and set up their thrones near the gates of Jerusalem.
They will attack the city walls of Jerusalem.
They will attack all the cities in Judah.
16 And I will announce judgment against my people,
because they are evil and have turned away from me.
They offered sacrifices to other gods
and worshiped idols they made with their own hands.
17 “As for you, Jeremiah, get ready.
Stand up and speak to the people.
Tell them everything that I tell you to say.
Don’t be afraid of the people.
If you are afraid of them,
I will give you good reason to be afraid of them.
18 As for me, today I will make you like a strong city,
an iron column, a bronze wall.
You will be able to stand against everyone in the land,
against the kings of the land of Judah,
the leaders of Judah, the priests of Judah,
and against the people of the land of Judah.
19 All those people will fight against you,
but they will not defeat you,
because I am with you,
and I will save you.”
This message is from the Lord.
God’s Law and Human Traditions(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus. They came from Jerusalem and asked him, 2 “Why do your followers not obey the traditions we have from our great leaders who lived long ago? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow those traditions you have? 4 God said, ‘You must respect your father and mother.’[a] And God also said, ‘Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.’[b] 5 But you teach that a person can say to their father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ 6 You are teaching them not to respect their father. So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think it is more important to follow those traditions you have. 7 You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke for God about you:
8 ‘These people honor me with their words,
but I am not really important to them.
9 Their worship of me is worthless.
The things they teach are only human rules.’” (B)
10 Jesus called the people to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. 11 It is not what people put in their mouth that makes them wrong.[c] It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them wrong.”
12 Then the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are upset about what you said?”
13 Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Stay away from the Pharisees. They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch.”
15 Peter said, “Explain to us what you said earlier to the people.”
16 Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? 17 Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. 18 But the bad things people say with their mouth come from the way they think. And that’s what can make people wrong. 19 All these bad things begin in the mind: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and insulting people. 20 These are the things that make people wrong. Eating without washing their hands will never make people unacceptable to God.”
Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman(C)
21 Jesus went from there to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that area came out and began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon inside her, and she is suffering very much.”
23 But Jesus did not answer her. So the followers came to him and said, “Tell her to go away. She keeps crying out and will not leave us alone.”
24 Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost people[d] of Israel.”
25 Then the woman came over to Jesus and bowed before him. She said, “Lord, help me!”
26 He answered her with this saying: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”
27 The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! You will get what you asked for.” And right then the woman’s daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Then Jesus went from there to the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat down.
30 A large crowd of people came to him. They brought many other sick people and put them before him. There were people who could not walk, people who were blind, crippled, or deaf, and many others. Jesus healed them all. 31 People were amazed when they saw that those who could not speak were now able to speak. Crippled people were made strong. Those who could not walk were now able to walk. The blind were able to see. Everyone thanked the God of Israel for this.
Jesus Feeds More Than 4000(D)
32 Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33 The followers asked Jesus, “Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are a long way from any town.”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “We have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. Then he gave thanks to God for the food. He broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to the followers, and they gave the food to the people. 37 All the people ate until they were full. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 38 There were about 4000 men there who ate. There were also some women and children. 39 After they all ate, Jesus told the people they could go home. He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International