M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The people cross the Jordan
3 Early the next morning, Joshua and all the Israelites left Shittim. They put up their tents beside the Jordan River. They waited to cross the river.
2 Three days later, the Israelite leaders went to every tent. 3 They commanded the people, ‘The Levite priests will carry the Covenant Box of the Lord your God. When you see them, you must leave here and you must follow them. 4 They will show you the way to go because you have never been here before. But do not go too near to the Covenant Box. Stay about 1,000 metres behind it.’
5 Joshua said to the people, ‘Make yourselves ready to serve the Lord as his holy people. Tomorrow, the Lord will do great miracles among you.’
6 He said to the priests, ‘Pick up the Covenant Box, and carry it in front of the people.’ So they picked it up, and they went on in front of the people.
7 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to make all the Israelite people respect you. They will know that I am with you, in the same way that I was with Moses. 8 The priests that are carrying the Covenant Box must go to the shore of the Jordan River. Tell them to go into the water and to stand there.’
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 The God who lives for ever is with you. He will certainly chase the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites out from this land.[a] Then you will have their land. The Lord will show you that he will certainly do this. 11 Look now! The Covenant Box of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan River in front of you. 12 Now choose 12 men, one from each tribe of Israel's family. 13 Watch the priests who are carrying the Covenant Box. As soon as their feet touch the water of the river, you will see that the water stops running. It will rise up like a wall.’
14 So the Israelite people prepared to leave their tents. The priests carried the Covenant Box towards the Jordan River. The people followed them. 15 It was the time of the harvest and there was a lot of water coming down the river. But when the priests reached the shore of the river with the Covenant Box and their feet touched the water, 16 the water stopped. It stopped a long way up the river, at a town called Adam. That is near Zarethan. The water going down to the Salt Sea stopped completely. So the people crossed the river near Jericho city. 17 The priests stood in the middle of the river on dry ground, with the Lord's Covenant Box. While they stood there, all the Israelite people walked across the river on dry ground. In that way, the whole nation arrived on the other side of the river.
A song to sing as we climb.
The Lord has done great things for us![a]
126 When the Lord turned us round,
so that we enjoyed a good life in Zion again,
we thought that we were dreaming!
2 At that time, we laughed a lot.
We shouted because we were so happy!
People in other countries said to each other,
‘The Lord has done great things for them!’
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us.
So we are very happy.
4 Lord, please bless us like before.
That will be like streams of water that return to the desert.[b]
5 When people went out to plant their seeds,
they were crying.
But they will be happy when they bring in the harvest!
6 People were weeping when they took their bags of seeds to plant.[c]
But when they carry their crops back home,
they will shout because they are so happy![d]
A song to sing as we climb.
Solomon wrote this song.
Every good thing comes from God[e]
127 The Lord must build your house.
If not, the work of the builders is useless.
The Lord must keep the city safe.
If not, the city guards are useless.
2 It will not help you to work all day for food, and never stop.
God gives food to the people that he loves.
Even while they sleep, God takes care of them.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord.
He blesses us with descendants.
4 If you have sons while you are a young man,
they are like a soldier's arrows.
5 If a man has many sons,
God has blessed him.[f]
When his enemies speak against him at the city gate,
they will not win.[g]
A song to sing as we climb.
A happy family
128 If people respect the Lord
and they obey his commands,
God has blessed them!
2 You will eat the food that you have worked hard to grow.
You will have everything that you need.
You will be happy!
3 Your wife will be like a vine that grows in your home,
and it gives many grapes.
Your children will sit around your table,
like the branches of an olive tree that are around you.[h]
4 Yes, if a man respects the Lord,
that is how God blesses him.
5 The Lord rules from Zion,
and I pray that he will bless you.[i]
Then you will see that Jerusalem is a good place to live in
for as long as you live.
6 I pray that you will live to see your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!
The Lord punishes the nations
63 Who is this who is coming from Edom?
He is coming from Bozrah
and his clothes are bright red.
He wears beautiful royal clothes,
and he marches forward with great strength.
He says, ‘It is me! I, the Lord, tell you that I have won the fight!
I have the power to save you.’
2 But why are your clothes red?
You look like someone who has walked on grapes,
and you have squeezed them to make wine.
3 He says, ‘I have walked on the grapes alone.
Nobody from the nations came to help me.
I walked on them because I was angry.
I squeezed them to pieces in my anger.
Their blood splashed on my clothes,
and it made all my clothes dirty.
4 I decided that it was time to punish my enemies.
Then I would save my people from their power.
5 I looked for somebody to give help,
but there was nobody.
I was very upset,
because nobody was there to help.
So I used my own strength to rescue my people.
My anger helped me to be strong.
6 Because I was angry,
I walked on the nations to punish them.
My anger was like strong wine that made them drunk.
I poured their blood onto the ground.’
Isaiah's prayer
7 I will speak about all the good things that the Lord does because he loves his people. We should praise him for everything that he does for us. He has done many good things for us, Israel's family. He helps us because he loves us very much, and he is very kind.
8 The Lord said, ‘Surely, they are my own people. As my children, they will not turn against me.’ So he became their Saviour. 9 When his people suffered, he also had pain. He sent his own angel to go and save them. Because he loved them and he was kind to them, he redeemed them. He lifted them up and he carried them, through all the years long ago.
10 But they turned against him. They made his Holy Spirit angry. So he then became their enemy. He fought against them.
11 Then they remembered past years, when Moses led their ancestors out of Egypt. They said, ‘Where is the Lord now, when we need him? He brought his people safely through the sea, with Moses as their leader. He caused his Holy Spirit to work among them. 12 He caused his power to be with Moses, as Moses raised his arm over the sea. He caused the waters to become separate so that his people could go across. In that way, he caused his name always to be famous. 13 He led them through the deep water of the sea. They ran across like horses on open ground, and they did not fall. 14 The Lord's Spirit led them to a place of rest, like cows that go down to a quiet valley.’
Yes, Lord, you were your people's guide. In that way, you made your name great.
15 So now, do something to help us! Look down from your beautiful, holy home in heaven. Use your power to show that we are your special people. Have you forgotten how to be kind to us?
16 Remember that you are our Father. Maybe our ancestor Abraham does not recognize us. Even Israel himself may not recognize us. But you, Lord, are our Father. Since times long ago, your name has been our Redeemer.
17 Lord, why do you cause us to turn away from your ways? You make our minds become hard, so that we do not obey you. Please come back to help us, because we are your servants. We are the tribes that you have chosen for yourself!
18 For only a short time, the holy place belonged to us, your special people. Then our enemies knocked down your temple. 19 It seems that we have not belonged to you for a long time. You no longer rule over us or take care of us.
Jesus talks about John the Baptist
11 Jesus taught all these things to his 12 disciples. After he had finished, he went away from that place. He went to the towns near there to teach his message to people.
2 At that time, John the Baptist was in prison. But people told him about all the things that Jesus the Messiah was doing. So John sent some of his own disciples to ask Jesus some questions.[a] 3 They said to him, ‘John the Baptist wants to know this: Are you the special person that God has promised to send to us? If not, should we still look for someone else?’
4 Jesus replied, ‘Go back to John. Tell him what you have been hearing. Also, tell him what you have been seeing. 5 Blind people can now see again. People who could not walk can now walk again. People who had a bad disease of the skin are now well again. Deaf people can now hear again. People who had died now live again. Poor people are hearing God's good news. 6 If anyone believes in me and does not turn away, he will be really happy.’
7 John's disciples went away again. Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. He said to them, ‘You went out to the wilderness. What did you go there to see? Was it a tall piece of grass which the wind was blowing this way and that? No, you did not go to see that. 8 Did you go to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes? No! People like that do not live in the wilderness. They live in kings' great houses. 9 So what did you go to see? Did you go to see a prophet sent by God? Yes! But I tell you, John was even more important than a prophet. 10 This is what someone wrote about him a long time ago in the Bible. God said:
“Listen! I will send someone to go in front of you.
He will speak my message.
He will prepare a way for you.” ’[b]
11 Jesus then said, ‘I tell you this: John the Baptist is greater than any person who has ever lived until now. But now, anyone who belongs in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. Even the least important of them is greater than he is.[c] 12 From the time that John the Baptist began to teach until now, the kingdom of heaven is becoming very strong. Strong people are trying very much to attack it. 13 All the prophets and the books of the Law spoke God's message until the time that John the Baptist came. 14 The prophets wrote about Elijah. They said he would come again, to prepare for the Messiah. They were writing about John, and you should believe their message. 15 You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
16 Jesus said, ‘I will talk to you about the people who are alive today. They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They are playing games and they shout to other children,
17 “We made happy music on a flute for you,
but you did not dance.
We sang a sad song but you did not cry.”
18 People today are like those children. John the Baptist did not eat ordinary food. He never drank wine. So people say that he has a bad spirit in him. 19 Then I, the Son of Man, came. I eat meals with other people and I drink wine. So people say about me, “Look at him! He eats too much and he drinks too much. He is a friend of bad people and men who take taxes from people.” God is wise. The good things that he does show that he is right.’[d]
20 In some of the cities Jesus had done many powerful things. But some people in those cities did not want to stop doing wrong things. They did not want to change how they lived. So Jesus spoke against those people. 21 He said to them, ‘You people in Chorazin, it will be very bad for you! And it will be very bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. If I had done such great things in Tyre and in Sidon, the people there would have changed how they lived. They would have shown they were sorry for their sins. They would have put on clothes made from goat's hair. They would also have put ashes on their heads. 22 Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish much more you people from Chorazin and Bethsaida. 23 And what will happen to you people in Capernaum? You think that God will lift you up to heaven, do you? No! He will throw you down to Hades, the place for dead people. I did powerful things in your town. If I had done these powerful things in Sodom, it would still be there today. 24 I tell you this. When God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Sodom. But he will punish you people much more!’[e]
25 At this moment, Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People who do not know many things can now understand your message. And so I thank you. But you have hidden these things from some other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. 26 Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.
27 My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father really knows me, his Son. Only I really know my Father, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him. Then they also know him.
28 Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me. If you do that, you will find a place to rest. 29 Do what I teach you to do. Listen to my message and learn from me what is true. I am very kind and I do not make myself important. I will help you. Then you will have peace in your mind. 30 I will not tell you to do things that are too difficult. I will not tell you to carry anything that is too heavy for you.’
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