M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Land for Ephraim and Manasseh
16 This is the land that the family of Joseph received. This land started at the Jordan River near Jericho and continued to the waters of Jericho. (This was just east of Jericho.) The border went up from Jericho to the hill country of Bethel. 2 Then the border continued from Bethel (Luz) to the Arkite border at Ataroth. 3 Then the border went west to the border of the Japhletites. The border continued to Lower Beth Horon. Then the border went to Gezer and continued to the Mediterranean Sea.
4 So the people of Manasseh and Ephraim got their land. (Manasseh and Ephraim were sons of Joseph.)
5 This is the land that was given to the people of Ephraim: Their eastern border started at Ataroth Addar near Upper Beth Horon. 6 And the western border started at Micmethath. The border turned to the east to Taanath Shiloh and continued east to Janoah. 7 Then it went from Janoah down to Ataroth and to Naarah. The border continued until it touched Jericho and ended 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 the Ephraimites. Each family in that tribe got a part of this land. 9 Many of the border towns of Ephraim were actually in Manasseh’s borders, but the Ephraimites got the towns and the fields around them. 10 But the Ephraimites were not able to force the Canaanites to leave the town of Gezer. So the Canaanites still live among the Ephraimites today, although they did become slaves of the Ephraimites.
17 Then land was given to the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s first son. Manasseh’s first son was Makir, the father of Gilead.[a] Makir was a great soldier, so the areas of Gilead and Bashan were given to his family. 2 Land was also given to the other families in the tribe of Manasseh. These families were Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. All these men were the other sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. The families of these men got their share of the land.
3 Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. Hepher was the son of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Makir, and Makir was the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he had five daughters. The daughters were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 The daughters went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and all the leaders. The daughters said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land the same as our male relatives.” So Eleazar obeyed the Lord and gave the daughters some land, just like their uncles.
5 So the tribe of Manasseh had ten areas of land west of the Jordan River and two more areas of land, Gilead and Bashan, on the other side of the Jordan River. 6 So these women from the tribe of Manasseh got land the same as the men. The land of Gilead was given to the rest of the families of Manasseh.
7 The lands of Manasseh were in the area between Asher and Micmethath. This is near Shechem. The border went south to the En Tappuah area. 8 The land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town itself did not. The town of Tappuah was at the border of Manasseh’s land, and it belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9 The border of Manasseh continued south to Kanah Ravine. This area belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, but the cities belonged to the people of Ephraim. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the river and it continued west to the Mediterranean 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 in the north and Issachar’s land in the east.
11 The people of Manasseh had towns in the area of Issachar and Asher. Beth Shean, Ibleam, and the small towns around them also belonged to them. The people of Manasseh also lived in Dor, Endor, Taanach, Megiddo, and the small towns around these cities. They also lived in the three towns of Naphoth. 12 The people of Manasseh were not able to defeat those cities. So the Canaanites continued to live there. 13 But the Israelites grew strong. When this happened, they forced the Canaanites to work for them. But they did not force them to leave that land.
14 The tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua and said, “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 that the Lord gave his people?”
15 Joshua answered them, “If you have too many people, go up to the wooded area in the hill country and clear that land for a place to live. That land now belongs to the Perizzites and the Rephaites. But if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go take that land.”
16 The people of Joseph said, “It is true that the hill country of Ephraim is not large enough for us. But the Canaanites living there have powerful weapons—they have iron chariots! And they control Jezreel Valley, Beth Shean, and all the small towns in that area.”
17 Then Joshua said to the people of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, “You have many people and you are very strong, so you should get more than one share of the land. 18 You will take these mountains. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. You can take it from the Canaanites and force them to leave. You can defeat them, even if they are strong and have iron chariots.”
148 Praise the Lord!
Angels above,
praise the Lord from heaven!
2 Praise him, all you angels!
Praise him, all his army[a]!
3 Sun and moon, praise him!
Stars and lights in the sky, praise him!
4 Praise him, highest heaven!
Waters above the sky, praise him!
5 Let them praise the Lord’s name,
because he gave the command and created them all!
6 He made all these continue forever.
He made the laws that will never end.
7 Everything on earth, praise him!
Great sea animals and all the oceans, praise the Lord!
8 Praise him, fire and hail, snow and clouds,
and the stormy winds that obey him.
9 Praise him, mountains and hills,
fruit trees and cedar trees.
10 Praise him, wild animals and cattle, reptiles and birds.
11 Praise him, kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers on earth.
12 Praise him, young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord’s name!
Honor his name forever!
His name is greater than any other.
He is more glorious than heaven and earth.
14 He made his people strong.
His loyal followers praise him.
Israel, his precious people, praise the Lord!
8 This message is from the Lord: “At that time men will take the bones of the kings and important rulers of Judah from their tombs. They will take the bones of the priests and prophets from their tombs. They will take the bones of all the people of Jerusalem from their tombs. 2 They will spread the bones on the ground under the sun, the moon, and the stars. The people of Jerusalem love to worship the sun, the moon, and the stars. No one will gather the bones and bury them again. So the bones of those people will be like dung thrown on the ground.
3 “I will force the people of Judah to leave their homes and their land. They will be taken away to foreign lands. Some of the people of Judah who were not killed in the war will wish that they had been killed.” This message is from the Lord All-Powerful.
Sin and Punishment
4 “Jeremiah, say this to the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘You know if a man falls down,
he gets up again.
And if a man goes the wrong way,
he turns around and comes back.
5 The people of Judah went the wrong way.
But why do the people of Jerusalem continue going the wrong way?
They believe their own lies.
They refuse to turn around and come back.
6 I have listened to them very carefully,
but they don’t say what is right.
They are not sorry for their sins.
They don’t think about the evil they have done.
They do things without thinking.
They are like horses running into a battle.
7 Even the birds in the sky
know the right time to do things.
The storks, doves, swifts, and thrushes
know when it is time to fly to a new home.
But my people don’t know
what the Lord wants them to do.
8 “‘You keep saying, “We have the Lord’s teachings. So we are wise!”
But this is not true, because the scribes have lied with their pens.
9 These “wise people” refused to listen to the Lord’s teachings.
So they are not really wise at all.
These “wise people” were trapped.
They became shocked and ashamed.
10 So I will give their wives to other men.
I will give their fields to new owners.
All the people of Israel want more and more money.
All of them, from the least important to the most important, are like that.
Even the prophets and priests tell lies.
11 They should bandage the wounds my people have suffered,
but they treat their wounds like small scratches.
They say, “It’s all right, everything is all right.”
But it is not all right!
12 They should be ashamed of the evil things they do,
but they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t know enough to be embarrassed by their sins.
So they will be punished with everyone else.
They will be thrown to the ground when I punish the people.’”
This is what the Lord said.
13 “‘I will take away their fruit and crops
so that there will be no harvest, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves will become dry and die.
I will take away the things I gave them.’”[a]
14 “They will say, ‘Why are we just sitting here?
Come, let’s run to the strong cities.
If the Lord our God is going to make us die,
then let’s die there.
We have sinned against the Lord,
so he has given us poisoned water to drink.
15 We hoped to have peace,
but nothing good has come.
We hoped that he would forgive us,
but only disaster has come.
16 From the land of the tribe of Dan,
we hear the snorting[b] of the enemy’s horses.
The ground shakes from the pounding of their hooves.
They have come to destroy the land
and everything in it.
They have come to destroy the city
and all the people who live there.’”
17 “People of Judah, I am sending poisonous snakes[c] to attack you.
These snakes cannot be controlled.
They will bite you.”
This message is from the Lord.
18 God, I am very sad and afraid.
19 Listen to my people.
Everywhere in this country, people are crying for help.
They say, “Is the Lord still at Zion?
Is Zion’s King still there?”
But God says,
“The people of Judah worshiped their worthless foreign idols.
That made me very angry!
Why did they do that?”
20 And the people say,
“Harvest time is over.
Summer is gone,
and still we have not been saved.”
21 My people are hurt, so I am hurt.
I am too sad to speak.
22 Surely there is some medicine in Gilead.
Surely there is a doctor in Gilead.
So why are the wounds of my people not healed?
A Story About People Invited to a Dinner(A)
22 Jesus used some more stories to teach the people. He said, 2 “God’s kingdom is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 3 He invited some people to the feast. When it was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people to come. But they refused to come to the king’s feast.
4 “Then the king sent some more servants. He said to them, ‘I have already invited the people. So tell them that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves to be eaten. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’
5 “But when the servants told the people to come, they refused to listen. They all went 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 very angry. He sent his army to kill those who murdered his servants. And the army burned their city.
8 “After that the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not good enough to come to my feast. 9 So go to the street corners and invite everyone you see. Tell them to come to my feast.’ 10 So the servants went into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike, and brought them to where the wedding feast was ready. And the place was filled with guests.
11 “When the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in the right clothes for a wedding. 12 The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not wearing the right clothes.’ 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 are crying and grinding their teeth with pain.’
14 “Yes, many people are invited. But only a few are chosen.”
The Jewish Leaders Try to Trick Jesus(B)
15 Then the Pharisees left the place where Jesus was teaching. They made plans to catch him saying something wrong. 16 They sent some men to Jesus. They were some of their own followers and some from the group called Herodians. They said, “Teacher, we know you are an honest man. We know you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what others think about you. All people are the same to you. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. So he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong? 19 Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” They showed Jesus a silver coin. 20 Then he asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on the coin?”
21 They answered, “It is Caesar’s picture and Caesar’s name.”
Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
22 When they heard what Jesus said, they were amazed. They left him and went away.
Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus(C)
23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no one will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. 24 They said, “Teacher, Moses told us that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry the woman. Then they will have children for the dead brother.[a] 25 There were seven brothers among us. The first brother married but died. He had no children. So his brother married the woman. 26 Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother and all the other brothers. 27 The woman was the last to die. 28 But all seven men had married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?”
29 Jesus answered, “You are so wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know anything about God’s power. 30 At the time when people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. Everyone will be like the angels in heaven. 31 Surely you have read what God said to you about people rising from death. 32 God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[b] So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people.”
33 When the people heard this, they were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.
Which Command Is the Most Important?(D)
34 The Pharisees learned that Jesus had made the Sadducees look so foolish that they stopped trying to argue with him. So the Pharisees had a meeting. 35 Then one of them, an expert in the Law of Moses, asked Jesus a question to test him. 36 He said, “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.’[c] 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor[d] the same as you love yourself.’[e] 40 All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands.”
Is the Messiah David’s Son or David’s Lord?(E)
41 So while the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them a question. 42 He said, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
The Pharisees answered, “The Messiah is the Son of David.”
43 Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David was speaking by the power of the Spirit. He said,
44 ‘The Lord God said to my Lord:
Sit by me at my right side,
and I will put your enemies under your control.[f]’ (F)
45 David calls the Messiah ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s 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.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International