M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

God Tells Joshua to Go and Take the Land

1 After the death of the Lord’s servant Moses, the Lord said to Moses’ helper, Joshua the son of Nun, ² “My servant Moses is dead. So you and all these people get up and cross the Jordan River to the land I am giving to the people of Israel. ³ I have given you every place where the bottom of your foot steps, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your land will be from the desert and from Lebanon as far as the big Euphrates River. It will be all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No man will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. I will be with you just as I have been with Moses. I will be faithful to you and will not leave you alone. ⁶ Be strong and have strength of heart. For you will bring the people in to take this land which I promised to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and have much strength of heart. Be careful to obey all the Law which My servant Moses told you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left. Then all will go well with you everywhere you go. ⁸ This book of the Law must not leave your mouth. Think about it day and night, so you may be careful to do all that is written in it. Then all will go well with you. You will receive many good things. ⁹ Have I not told you? Be strong and have strength of heart! Do not be afraid or lose faith. For the Lord your God is with you anywhere you go.”

Joshua Tells the People to Go

¹⁰ Then Joshua told the leaders of the people, ¹¹ “Go among the tents and tell the people, ‘Gather together the things you will need. For within three days you will cross this Jordan to go in to take the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

¹² To the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-family group of Manasseh, Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember what the Lord’s servant Moses told you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest, and will give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your children and your cattle will stay in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you and all your strong-hearted soldiers will cross the river dressed for battle in front of your brothers. You will help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He has given you. Help them until they own the land the Lord your God is giving them. Then you will return to your own land. You will own what the Lord’s servant Moses gave you on the east side of the Jordan.” ¹⁶ They answered Joshua, saying, “We will do all that you have told us. And we will go anywhere you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you in all things just as we obeyed Moses. Only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses. ¹⁸ Anyone who goes against what you say, and does not obey all that you tell him to do, will be put to death. Only be strong and have strength of heart.”

A Prayer for Help

120 I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He answered me. ² O Lord, save me from lying lips and a false tongue. ³ What will be given to you and what more will be done to you, you false tongue? ⁴ He will punish you with sharp arrows of the soldier, and with the hot fire of the broom tree.

⁵ It is bad for me, for I travel in Meshech and live among the tents of Kedar! ⁶ I have lived too long with those who hate peace. ⁷ I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.

The Lord—Our Helper

121 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where will my help come from? ² My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your feet go out from under you. He Who watches over you will not sleep. ⁴ Listen, He Who watches over Israel will not close his eyes or sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your safe cover at your right hand. ⁶ The sun will not hurt you during the day and the moon will not hurt you during the night. ⁷ The Lord will keep you from all that is sinful. He will watch over your soul. ⁸ The Lord will watch over your coming and going, now and forever.

A Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

122 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” ² Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. ³ Jerusalem is built as a city where people come together. ⁴ That is where the different families go, the families of the Lord. There they give thanks to the name of the Lord, by the Law that was given to Israel. ⁵ For thrones were set there for telling who is guilty or not, the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all go well for those who love you. ⁷ May there be peace within your walls. May all go well within your houses. ⁸ I will now say, “May peace be within you,” for the good of my brothers and my friends. ⁹ Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will pray for your good.

The Good News

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has chosen me to bring good news to poor people. He has sent me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent me to tell those who are being held and those in prison that they can go free. ² He has sent me to tell about the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day our God will bring punishment. He has sent me to comfort all who are filled with sorrow. ³ To those who have sorrow in Zion I will give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. I will give them the oil of joy instead of sorrow, and a spirit of praise instead of a spirit of no hope. Then they will be called oaks that are right with God, planted by the Lord, that He may be honored.

⁴ They will build the cities again that were destroyed long ago. They will raise up what had been torn down, and will build the cities that were destroyed, and have lain waste through the years of many families and their children’s children. ⁵ Strangers will stand and feed your flocks. Men from other lands will be your farmers and care for your vines. ⁶ But you will be called the religious leaders of the Lord. Men will speak of you as servants of our God. You will eat the riches of the nations, and in their riches you will speak with pride. ⁷ Instead of your shame you will have a share that is twice as much. Instead of being without honor, they will sing for joy over all you receive. So they will have twice as much in their land, and joy that lasts forever will be theirs. ⁸ For I, the Lord, love what is right and fair. I hate stealing and what is wrong. I will be faithful to pay them what they should have. And I will make an agreement with them that will last forever. ⁹ Their children will be known among the nations. Their children’s children will be known among the people. All who see them will know them, because they are the people to whom the Lord has brought honor.

¹⁰ I will have much joy in the Lord. My soul will have joy in my God, for He has clothed me with the clothes of His saving power. He has put around me a coat of what is right and good, as a man at his own wedding wears something special on his head, and as a bride makes herself beautiful with stones of great worth. ¹¹ As the earth lets its new plants grow, and as a garden causes the things planted in it to grow, in the same way, the Lord God will cause what is right and good and words of praise to grow up in front of all the nations.

The Healing of a Man Who Could Not Move His Body ^(A)

9 Jesus got into a boat. He crossed over to the other side and came into His own city. ² They took a man to Him who was on his bed. This man was not able to move his body. Jesus saw their faith. He said, “Son, take hope. Your sins are forgiven.” ³ Some of the teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man speaks as if He is God, but He is not!” ⁴ Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why do you think bad thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ ⁶ But this is to show you that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” He said to the sick man, “Get up! Take your bed and go home.” ⁷ He got up and went to his home. ⁸ All the people saw this. They were surprised and wondered about it. Then they gave thanks to God because He had given such power to men.

Jesus Calls Matthew ^(B)

⁹ As Jesus went from there, He saw a man called Matthew. Matthew was sitting at his work gathering taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Matthew got up and followed Jesus. ¹⁰ Jesus ate in Matthew’s house. Many men who gathered taxes and many who were sinners came to Matthew’s house and sat down with Jesus and His followers. ¹¹ The proud religious law-keepers saw this. They said to the followers of Jesus, “Why does your Teacher eat with men who gather taxes and with sinners?” ¹² Jesus heard them and said, “People who are well do not need a doctor. ¹³ But go and understand these words, ‘I want loving-kindness and not a gift to be given.’ ^(C) For I have not come to call good people. I have come to call those who are sinners.”

Jesus Teaches about Going without Food So You Can Pray Better ^(D)

¹⁴ Then the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus. They asked, “Why do we and the proud religious law-keepers many times go without food so we can pray better? But Your followers never go without food so they can pray better.” ¹⁵ Jesus said, “Can the friends at a wedding be sorry when the man just married is with them? But the days will come when the man just married will be taken from them. Then they will not eat food so they can pray better.

¹⁶ “No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because if the new piece pulls away, it makes the hole bigger. ¹⁷ Men do not put new wine into old skin bags. If they did, the skins would break and the wine would run out. The bags would be no good. They put new wine into new skin bags and both can be used.”

Two Healed Through Faith ^(E)

¹⁸ While Jesus talked to them, a leader of the people came and got down before Him, and worshiped Him. He said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up and followed him. His followers went also. ²⁰ Just then a woman who had been sick with a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind. She touched the bottom of His coat. ²¹ She said to herself, “If I only touch the bottom of His coat, I will be healed.” ²² Then Jesus turned around. He saw her and said, “Daughter, take hope! Your faith has healed you.” At once the woman was healed.

²³ Jesus came into the leader’s house. He saw the people playing music and making much noise. ²⁴ He said to them, “Go now! For the girl is not dead, but is sleeping.” But they laughed at Him. ²⁵ He sent the people outside. Then He went in and took the girl’s hand. She was raised up. ²⁶ News of this went out into all the country.

The Healing of Two Blind Men

²⁷ Jesus went on from there. Two blind men followed Him. They called out, “Take pity on us, Son of David.” ²⁸ Jesus went into the house. The blind men came to Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do you have faith that I can do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Sir!” ²⁹ Then Jesus put His hands on their eyes and said, “You will have what you want because you have faith.” ³⁰ Their eyes were opened. Jesus told them to tell no one. ³¹ But when they had gone, they told about Him everywhere in the country.

³² As they went on their way, a man who had a demon and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³ When the demon was put out of him, the man was able to talk. Many people were surprised and wondered about it. They said, “We have never seen in the nation of the Jews like this.” ³⁴ But the proud religious law-keepers said, “He puts out demons by the help of the leader of the demons.”

³⁵ Jesus went on to all the towns and cities. He taught in their places of worship. He preached the Good News of the holy nation of God. He healed every sickness and disease the people had. ³⁶ As He saw many people, He had loving-pity on them. They were troubled and were walking around everywhere. They were like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His followers, “There is much grain ready to gather. But the workmen are few. ³⁸ Pray then to the Lord Who is the Owner of the grain fields that He will send workmen to gather His grain.”