M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Trickery by the Gibeonites
9 Eventually all the kings who reigned in the hill country across the Jordan River and in the low-lying coastlands of the Mediterranean Sea facing Lebanon heard about this. So the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites 2 united together as one to fight against both Joshua and Israel.
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they took the initiative by preparing their provisions shrewdly: they took tattered sacks for their donkeys, worn-out, torn, and mended wineskins, 5 worn-out, patched sandals for their feet, and worn-out clothes. All of their food was dried out and covered in mold. 6 Then they approached Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and addressed him and the Israelis, “We’ve arrived from a distant country, so please make a treaty with us right now.”
7 But the Israelis responded to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live in our midst. If this is so,[a] how can we make a treaty with you?”
8 So they responded to Joshua, “We are your servants.”
Joshua asked them, “Who are you? And where did you come from?”
9 They answered, “Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation[b] of the Lord your God, because we’ve heard a report about all that he did in Egypt, 10 along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River—that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our leaders and all of the inhabitants of our country told us, ‘Take provisions along with you for your journey, go to meet them, and tell them, “We are your servants. Come now and make a treaty with us.”’ 12 Look at[c] our bread: it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for our journey on the very day we set out to come to you. But now, look how it’s dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look—now they’re cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
14 So the leaders of Israel[d] sampled their provisions, but did not ask the Lord about it. 15 They made a treaty with them, guaranteeing their lives with a covenant, and the leaders of the congregation confirmed it with an oath to them.
16 But three days after they had made the treaty with them, they learned that they were their neighbors and were living in their midst. 17 So the Israelis set out for their cities and three days later they reached their cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of[e] the Lord, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders.
19 Then all of the leaders spoke to the entire congregation, “We have sworn to them in the name of[f] the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them. 20 So this is what we’ll do to them: we’ll let them live, so that wrath won’t come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.”
21 The leaders told them, “Let them live.” So they became wood cutters and water carriers for the entire congregation, which is what the leaders had decided concerning them.
22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites[g] and asked them, “Why did you deceive us by saying ‘We live far away from you,’ even though you were, in fact, living in our midst? 23 Now therefore you are under a curse. Some of you will always be slaves, wood cutters, and water carriers for the house of my God.”
24 They replied to Joshua, “Because your servants had been informed that the Lord your God had certainly commanded his servant Moses to give you the entire land and to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land before you. So we were terrified for our lives because of you. That’s why we did this. 25 Now we’re under your control: do to us as it seems good and right in your opinion.”
26 So this is what Joshua[h] did for them: he saved them from the Israelis, and they did not kill them. 27 However, on that very day Joshua made them become wood cutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the Lord’s altar in the place that he should choose, and this tradition continues[i] to this day.
To the Music Director: A Davidic Song
A Prayer for Deliverance
140 [a]Deliver me, Lord, from evil people,
preserve me from violent men,
2 who craft evil plans in their minds,
inciting wars every day.[b]
3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;
the venom of vipers is on their lips.
4 Protect me, Lord, from the control of evil people,
from violent men who have planned to trip me.
5 The arrogant have laid a trap for me;
they have spread a net with ropes,
lining it with snares along the way.
6 So I say to the Lord, “You are my God;
listen to my voice
as I plead for mercy, Lord.
7 Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
you have protected my head in the time[c] of battle.
8 Never grant, Lord, the desires of the wicked;
never condone their plans
so they cannot exalt themselves.
9 May those who surround me discover
that the trouble they talk about falls on their own head!
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be cast into fire,
and into miry pits, never to rise again.
11 Let not the slanderer[d] become established in the land.
May evil quickly hunt down the violent man.
12 I know that the Lord will act on behalf of the tormented,
providing justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name,
while the upright live in your presence.
A Davidic Song
A Prayer for Maturity
141 Lord, I call to you,
be quick to listen to me when I cry out!
2 Let my prayer be like incense offered before you,
and my uplifted hands like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, set a guard over my mouth;
keep watch over the door to my lips.
4 Don’t let my heart turn toward evil
or involve itself in wicked activities
with men who practice iniquity.
Let me not feast on their delicacies.
5 Let one who is righteous strike me;
It is an act of gracious love.
Let him rebuke me,
because it is oil for my head;
do not let my head refuse it.
My prayers continuously will be
against their wicked activities.
6 When their judges are thrown off the cliff,
the people[e] will hear my words,
for they are appropriate.
7 Just as one plows and breaks up the earth,
our[f] bones are scattered
near the entrance to the place of the dead.[g]
8 Nevertheless, my eyes are on you, Lord God,
as I seek protection in you.
Don’t leave me defenseless!
9 Protect me from the trap laid for me
and from the snares of those who practice evil.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I come through.
God Contemplates Divorcing Israel
3 “When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and
becomes another man’s wife,
will the first husband[a] return to her again?
The land would be deeply polluted, would it not?
Since you have committed fornication with many lovers,
would you now return to me?”
declares the Lord.
2 “Look up to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place[b] where you have not been ravished?
You have sat beside the road, waiting[c] for them[d]
like a nomad in the desert.
And you have polluted the land
with your fornication and your wickedness.
3 This is why the rain has been withheld
and there are no spring showers.
Yet you have a harlot’s look[e]
and you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just called out to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will he hold on to his anger forever,
will he persist in his wrath to the end?’
Look, you have spoken and done evil things,
and you have succeeded in it.”[f]
The Example of Samaria
6 In the time of King Josiah the Lord told me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she committed fornication there. 7 I thought,[g] ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to me.’ But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw this. 8 I saw that even though I had sent unfaithful Israel away for all her adulteries and had given her a[h] divorce decree, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t fear, and she, too, committed adultery. 9 She took her fornication so lightly that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.[i] 10 Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively,” declares the Lord.
A Call for Repentance
11 Then the Lord told me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say,
‘Return, unfaithful Israel,’
declares the Lord.
‘I won’t look on you in anger,
for I am gracious,’[j]
declares the Lord.
‘I won’t remain angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
and have scattered your favors to strangers
under every green tree.
But you haven’t obeyed me,’
declares the Lord.
14 “Return, unfaithful people,”[k] declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.[l] I’ll take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I’ll bring you to Zion. 15 I’ll give you shepherds[m] after my own heart, and they’ll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense.”
16 “And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord,’ and it won’t come to mind, and they won’t remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time people will call Jerusalem, “The Throne of the Lord,” and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. They’ll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.[n] 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they’ll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.”
God’s Desire for His People
19 “I said,
‘How I wanted to treat you like children,
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.’
I said, ‘You will call me, my father,
and won’t turn back from following me.’
20 Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband,
so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel,”
declares the Lord.
Israel Cries for Help
21 “A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel
because they have perverted their way.
They have forgotten the Lord their God.”
God Calls for Repentance
22 “Turn back, unfaithful people,[o]
and I’ll heal your unfaithfulness.”
Israel Replies
“Look, we’re coming to you
because you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a deception,[p]
and the mountains[q] are confusion.
Truly, in the Lord our God is Israel’s salvation.”
24 Since our youth the false gods have consumed
the products of our ancestors’ hard work,
their sheep and their cattle,
their sons and their daughters.
25 “Let us lie down in our shame,
and let our humiliation cover us,
because both we and our ancestors have sinned
against the Lord our God from our youth
until this present time.
We haven’t obeyed the Lord our God.”
Jesus’ Appearance is Changed(A)
17 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 His appearance was changed in front of them, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. 3 Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.[a]
4 Then Peter told Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here! If you want, I’ll set up three shelters[b]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them.
A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him. Keep on listening to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
7 But Jesus came up to them and touched them, saying, “Get up, and stop being afraid.” 8 When they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus all by himself.
9 On their way down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 So the disciples asked him, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
11 He answered them, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, yet people[c] did not recognize him and treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he had been speaking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon(B)
14 As they approached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus,[d] knelt down in front of him, 15 and said, “Sir,[e] have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and suffers terribly. Often he falls into fire and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He told them, “Because of your lack of faith.[f] I tell all of you[g] with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.”[h]
Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection(C)
22 While they were gathering together[i] in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands. 23 They will kill him, but he will be raised on the third day.” Then they were filled with grief.
Questions about the Temple Tax
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax[j] came up to Peter and asked, “Your teacher pays the temple tax,[k] doesn’t he?”
25 He answered, “Yes.”
When Peter[l] went home,[m] Jesus spoke to him first and asked him, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings on the earth collect tolls or tributes? From their own subjects,[n] or from foreigners?”
26 “From foreigners,” he replied.
So Jesus told him, “In that case, the subjects[o] are exempt. 27 However, so that we don’t offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth, and you will find a coin.[p] Take it and give it to them for me and you.”
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