M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rocks to Remind the People
4 After all the people had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them to look in the river where the priests were standing and get twelve rocks from that place. Carry these rocks with you and put them where you stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together. 5 He said to them, “Go out into the river where the Holy Box of the Lord your God is. Each of you must find one rock. There will be one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Carry that rock on your shoulder. 6 These rocks will be a sign for you. In the future, your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ 7 You will tell them that the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan River. When the Holy Box of the Lord’s Agreement crossed the river, the water stopped flowing. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever.”
8 So the Israelites obeyed Joshua. They carried twelve rocks from the middle of the Jordan River. There was one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They did this as the Lord had commanded Joshua. The men carried the rocks with them. Then they put the rocks at the place where they made their camp. 9 Joshua also put twelve rocks in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them at the place where the priests had stood while carrying the Holy Box. These rocks are still there today.
10 The Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people what to do. This is what Moses had said Joshua must do. So the priests carrying the Holy Box stood in the middle of the river until everything was done. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the river. 11 After the people finished crossing the river, the priests carried the Lord’s Holy Box to the front of the people.
12 The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh obeyed Moses. These men crossed the river in front of the other people. These men were prepared for war. They were going to help the rest of the Israelites take the land God had promised to give them. 13 About 40,000 soldiers, prepared for war, passed before the Lord. They were marching toward the plains of Jericho.
14 That day the Lord made Joshua a great man to all the Israelites. From that time on, they respected Joshua just as they had Moses.
15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the Box that holds the Agreement[a] to come out of the river.”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come out of the Jordan River.”
18 The priests obeyed Joshua. They carried the Box of the Lord’s Agreement with them and came out of the river. When their feet touched the land on the other side of the river, the water in the river began flowing again. The water again overflowed its banks just as it had before the people crossed.
19 The people crossed the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. 20 They carried with them the twelve rocks that they had taken from the Jordan River, and Joshua set them up at Gilgal. 21 Then Joshua told the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ 22 Tell them, ‘These rocks help us remember the way the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land.’ 23 The Lord your God caused the water in the Jordan River to stop flowing so that you could cross it on dry land—just as the Lord had stopped the water at the Red Sea so that we could cross it on dry land. 24 The Lord did this so that all the people in this country would know that he is very powerful. Then they will always be afraid of the Lord your God.”
A song for going up to the Temple.
129 All my life enemies have attacked me.
Say it again, Israel.
2 All my life enemies have attacked me,
but they have never defeated me.
3 They beat me until I had deep cuts.
My back looked like a freshly plowed field.
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he cut the ropes and set me free from those wicked people.
5 May those who hate Zion be put to shame.
May they be stopped and chased away.
6 They will be like grass on a flat roof
that dies before it has time to grow.
7 The one who goes to harvest it
will not find enough to cut and stack.
8 May no one walking by those wicked people ever say,
“May the Lord bless you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
A song for going up to the Temple.
130 Lord, I am in deep trouble,
so I am calling to you for help.
2 My Lord, listen to me.
Listen to my cry for help.
3 Lord, if you punished people for all their sins,
no one would be left alive.
4 But you forgive people,
so they fear and respect you.
5 I am waiting for the Lord to help me.
My soul waits for him.
I trust what he says.
6 I am waiting for my Lord,
like a guard waiting and waiting for the morning to come.
7 Israel, trust in the Lord.
The Lord is the one who is faithful and true.
He saves us again and again,
8 and he is the one who will save the people of Israel from all their sins.
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
131 Lord, I don’t feel proud.
I don’t see myself as better than others.
I am not thinking about doing great things
or reaching impossible goals.
2 No, right now I am calm and quiet,
like a child after nursing,
content in its mother’s arms.[a]
3 Israel, trust in the Lord.
Trust in him now and forever!
64 If you would tear open the skies
and come down to earth, then everything would change.
Mountains would melt before you.
2 The mountains would burst into flames like burning bushes.
The mountains would boil like water on the fire.
Then your enemies would learn about you.
And all nations would shake with fear when they see you.
3 But you have done awesome things that we did not expect.
You came down, and mountains shook in fear before you.
4 No one has ever heard of such a God.
No one has ever heard such a story.
No one has ever seen any God except you,
who does such great things for those who trust him.
5 You welcome people who enjoy doing good and who remember you
by living the way you want them to.
But we sinned against you,
and you became angry with us.[a]
But you always saved us!
6 We are all dirty with sin.
Even our good works are not pure.
They are like bloodstained rags.
We are all like dead leaves.
Our sins have carried us away like wind.
7 We don’t call to you for help.
We aren’t excited about following you,
so you have turned away from us.
We are helpless before you,
because we are full of sin.
8 But, Lord, you are our father.
We are like clay, and you are the potter.
Your hands made us all.
9 Lord, don’t continue to be angry with us!
Don’t remember our sins forever!
Please, look at us!
We are all your people.
10 Your holy cities are as empty as the desert.
Zion has become a desert.
Jerusalem is destroyed.
11 Our ancestors worshiped you in our holy Temple.
That wonderful Temple has now been burned.
All our precious possessions have been destroyed.
12 Lord, will these things always keep you from helping?
Will you continue to say nothing?
Will you punish us forever?
Jesus Is Lord Over the Sabbath Day(A)
12 About that same time, Jesus was walking through the fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were with him, and they were hungry. So they began to pick the grain and eat it. 2 The Pharisees saw this. They said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing something that is against the law to do on the Sabbath day.”
3 Jesus said to them, “You have read what David did when he and those with him were hungry. 4 David went into God’s house. He and those with him ate the bread that was offered to God. It was against the law for David or those with him to eat that bread. Only the priests were allowed to eat it. 5 And you have read in the Law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests at the Temple break the law about the Sabbath day. But they are not wrong for doing that. 6 I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. 7 The Scriptures say, ‘I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.’[a] You don’t really know what that means. If you understood it, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.
8 “The Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath day.”
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath Day(B)
9 Jesus went from there to their synagogue. 10 In the synagogue there was a man with a crippled hand. Some Jews there were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong. So they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?”[b]
11 Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will take the sheep and help it out of the ditch. 12 Surely a man is more important than a sheep. So it is right to do good on the Sabbath day.”
13 Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it became well again, the same as the other hand. 14 But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.
Jesus Is God’s Chosen Servant
15 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were planning. So he left that place, and many people followed him. He healed all who were sick, 16 but he warned them not to tell others who he was. 17 This was to give full meaning to what Isaiah the prophet said when he spoke for God:
18 “Here is my servant,
the one I have chosen.
He is the one I love,
and I am very pleased with him.
I will fill him with my Spirit,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
19 He will not argue or shout;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break off even a bent stem of grass.[c]
He will not put out even the weakest flame.
He will not give up until he has made justice victorious.
21 All people will hope in him.” (C)
Jesus’ Power Is From God(D)
22 Then some people brought a man to Jesus. This man was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon inside him. Jesus healed the man, and he could talk and see. 23 All the people were amazed at what Jesus did. They said, “Maybe he is the promised Son of David!”
24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man uses the power of Satan[d] to force demons out of people. Satan is the ruler of demons.”
25 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And every city or family that is divided against itself will not survive. 26 So if Satan forces out his own demons,[e] then he is fighting against himself, and his kingdom will not survive. 27 You say that I use the power of Satan to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people will prove that you are wrong. 28 But I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, and this shows that God’s kingdom has come to you. 29 Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me. And anyone who does not work with me is working against me.
31 “So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 You can even speak against the Son of Man and be forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven—not now or in the future.
What You Do Shows What You Are(E)
33 “If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. 34 You snakes! You are so evil. How can you say anything good? What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts. 35 Those who are good have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. 36 I tell you that everyone will have to answer for all the careless things they have said. This will happen on the day of judgment. 37 Your words will be used to judge you. What you have said will show whether you are right or whether you are guilty.”
Some People Doubt Jesus’ Authority(F)
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law answered Jesus. They said, “Teacher, we want to see you do a miracle as a sign from God.”
39 Jesus answered, “Evil and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle as a sign. But no miracle will be done to prove anything to them. The only sign will be the miracle that happened to the prophet Jonah.[f] 40 Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights. 41 On the judgment day, you people who live now will be compared with the people from Nineveh,[g] and they will be witnesses who show how guilty you are. Why do I say this? Because when Jonah preached to those people, they changed their lives. And you are listening to someone greater than Jonah, but you refuse to change!
42 “On the judgment day, you people who live now will also be compared with the queen of the South,[h] and she will be a witness who shows how guilty you are. I say this because she traveled from far, far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is right here, but you won’t listen!
The Danger of Emptiness(G)
43 “When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places looking for a place to rest, but it finds none. 44 So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ When it comes back, it finds that home still empty. It is all neat and clean. 45 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today.”
Jesus’ Followers Are His True Family(H)
46 While Jesus was talking to the people, his mother and brothers stood outside. They wanted to talk to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are waiting for you outside. They want to talk to you.”
48 Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his followers and said, “See! These people are my mother and my brothers. 50 Yes, anyone who does what my Father in heaven wants is my true brother and sister and mother.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International