M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Safe cities
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 ‘Tell the Israelite people to choose special cities as safe places. I told Moses that you should do this. 3 Anyone can be safe in these cities if he has killed someone but he did not mean to kill. A person like that must run to one of these towns and he will be safe from the dead person's relative.[a]
4 The person who killed someone must go to the special city. When he arrives, he must stand at the gate of the city. There he must tell the leaders what he has done. Then they must take him into the city. They must give him a place to stay so that he can live there. 5 The dead person's relative may chase after the killer. The leaders of the city must not let him hurt the killer. This is because the killer did not mean to kill. 6 The killer must stay inside that city. The judges there will decide if he is not guilty of murder. Then he must wait until the leader of the priests dies. After that, he is free to return to the town that he came from.’
7 So they chose these towns: Kedesh in Galilee (in the hill country of Naphtali), Shechem (in the hill country of Ephraim), and Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah).
8 They also chose these towns beyond Jericho, on the east side of Jordan River: Bezer (in the flat desert land of Reuben), Ramoth in Gilead (on Gad's land), Golan in Bashan (on Manasseh's land).
9 Any Israelite or foreign person living in Israel could run to these cities and be safe. They may have killed someone, but they did not mean to kill them. If they run to these cities, the dead person's relative could not kill them. The judges in the city had to decide whether a killer was guilty of murder. Nobody could kill them before the judges decided.
Towns for the Levites
21 The leaders of the Levite families came to speak to Joshua, son of Nun. Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the other tribes were also there. 2 They met at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The Levites said, ‘The Lord told Moses that you must give us towns to live in, as well as land for our animals.’[b]
3 So the Israelites did as the Lord had told them. They gave to the Levites towns to live in and land for their animals. They gave these from their own land.
4 They gave towns first to the clans of Kohath. They gave 13 towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. They gave these to Levites who were descendants of Aaron, the priest. 5 They also gave to the other descendants of Kohath, towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and the west half of Manasseh.
6 Then they gave 13 towns to the descendants of Gershon. Those towns came from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the east half of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 They gave 12 towns to the descendants of Merari. Those towns came from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.
8 In that way, the Israelites gave these towns to the Levites, as well as land for their animals. They used lots to do it. They did as the Lord had told Moses to do.
9 These are the names of the towns that the tribes of Simeon and Judah gave to the Levites. 10 The Kohathite clans who were descendants of Aaron received these towns, because God chose them first.
11 They received Kiriath Arba (or Hebron), with land near to it, in the hill country of Judah. Arba was the father of Anak. 12 But the fields and villages near Hebron belonged to Caleb, son of Jephunneh. 13 Hebron was one of the safe cities. The descendants of Aaron, the priest, received Hebron, Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh, as well as their fields. These two tribes gave them nine towns. 17 Benjamin's tribe also gave four towns to them: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth and Almon, as well as their fields.
19 So the priests, descendants of Aaron, received 13 towns with their fields.
20 The tribe of Ephraim gave some towns to Levites from other clans of Kohath. 21 They gave them Shechem, a safe city, in the hill country of Ephraim, as well as Gezer, 22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon, with their fields. That was four towns. 23 The tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon. That was another four towns with their fields. 25 The west half tribe of Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their fields. That was two towns.
26 So these Kohathite clans received ten towns with their fields.
27 The Levites from the clans of Gershon received these towns. The east half tribe of Manasseh gave them Golan in Bashan, a safe city, and Be Eshtarah. That was two towns, as well as their fields. 28 The tribe of Issachar gave them Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth and En Gannim, with their fields. That was another four towns. 30 The tribe of Asher gave them Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath and Rehob, with their fields. That was four more towns. 32 The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee, a safe city, Hammoth Dor and Kartan, with their fields. That was three towns.
33 So the clans of Gershon received 13 cities with their fields.
34 The other Levites were from the clan of Merari. The tribe of Zebulun gave them Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah and Nahalal. That was four towns, as well as their fields. 36 The tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath, with their fields. That was four towns. 38 The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead, a safe city, Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon and Jazer, with their fields. That was four more towns.
40 So the clans of Merari received 12 towns. That was all the Levite clans.
41 The Levites received 48 towns in the land of the Israelite people. 42 Each of these towns had its own fields round it, for animals to eat the grass.
43 That is how the Lord gave the land to all the Israelite people. He had promised their ancestors that he would give the land to them. They took it from the people who had lived there, and then they lived there themselves. 44 The Lord let them live there safely, as he had promised to their ancestors. The Lord made them stronger than their enemies, so nobody could attack them. 45 The Lord did all the good things that he had promised to do for the people of Israel. He did not fail to do anything that he had promised.
Jesus speaks to his apostles and he goes up to heaven
1 Jesus did many things when he was living on earth. He also taught people many things. I told you about all these things in the first book that I wrote for you, Theophilus.[a] 2 Those are the things that Jesus did before God took him up into heaven. Jesus had chosen some men to be his apostles. With the power of the Holy Spirit he told them what they must do. 3 After Jesus died on the cross, he became alive again. During the 40 days after that, he showed himself many times to his apostles. He showed himself in different ways. Then they could be really sure that he was alive again. During this time, Jesus spoke to his apostles about the kingdom of God.[b]
4 One time, when Jesus and his apostles were together, he said to them, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem yet. You must wait there until you receive my Father's gift. My Father promised to give it to you. I have already told you about it. 5 John baptized people with water, but after a few days God will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
6 While Jesus' apostles were together with him, they asked him, ‘Lord, at this time will you now give the kingdom back to us, the people of Israel?’
7 Jesus replied, ‘My Father decides when things will happen in the world. You do not need to know the day or the time when this will happen. 8 But the Holy Spirit will come to you, and he will give you power. The Holy Spirit will make your spirit strong. Then you will tell other people everywhere in the world about me. You will do that in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in places far away.’
9 When Jesus had finished speaking to his apostles, God took him up to heaven. The apostles watched Jesus while he went up. Then a cloud hid him and they could not see him any more.
10 The apostles were still looking carefully up into the sky when suddenly two men appeared.[c] They were wearing white clothes and they stood near the apostles.
11 The men said to the apostles, ‘You men from Galilee, you should not still be standing here and looking up into the sky. God has taken Jesus into heaven. You saw the way that Jesus went up to heaven. One day, he himself will return in the same way.’
The apostles choose Matthias
12 Then the apostles left the Mount of Olives.[d] They returned to Jerusalem. This was a walk of about 1 kilometre. 13 When the apostles arrived back in Jerusalem, they went to their room. The room where they were staying was upstairs. Those apostles were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; also James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.[e]
14 All these apostles often met together to pray. Mary who was Jesus' mother, other women and Jesus' brothers also met with them. 15 One day, about 120 people who believed in Jesus were meeting together. Peter stood up and he said to them, 16 ‘My friends, long ago, the Holy Spirit gave King David a message to speak from God.[f] He spoke about the things that Judas would do. Judas was the one who showed the soldiers how to catch Jesus. These things had to happen in the way that David wrote in the Bible long ago.[g] 17 Judas belonged to our group of disciples. Jesus chose him to work together with us.’
18 Judas received some money for the bad thing that he did. He bought a field with that money. But he fell down in that field and he died. His body broke open and the inside parts of his body poured out. 19 All the people who lived in Jerusalem heard about his death. So they called that field ‘Akeldama’ in their own language. ‘Akeldama’ means ‘The Field of Blood’.[h]
20 Peter then said, ‘This is what King David wrote in the book of Psalms:
“Let the house that he lived in become empty,
so that nobody lives in it.”[i]
David also wrote:
“Let somebody else do the job which he did.” ’[j]
21 Peter then said, ‘Because of this, we must choose another man instead of Judas. That man must have been one of our group all the time that the Lord Jesus was with us. 22 That is, from the time when John was baptizing people until the time when Jesus went up to heaven. He must be someone who saw Jesus become alive again after he died, as we did.’
23 So the apostles agreed the names of two men. One of them was Joseph. People also called him Barsabbas and sometimes people called him Justus. The other man was called Matthias. 24 Then the whole group prayed, ‘Lord, you know what everybody is really like. Please show us which man you have chosen. 25 Which of these two men do you want to be an apostle instead of Judas? Judas left his work as an apostle. He has now gone to the place where he belongs.’
26 Then the group used lots to choose the name of one man. It happened that they chose Matthias. So Matthias now became the 12th apostle, together with the other 11 men.
10 People of Israel, listen to what the Lord says to you.
2 The Lord says,
‘Do not copy the way that people of other nations live.
They are afraid of strange things that they see in the sky.
But you must not be afraid of those things.[a]
3 The customs of those people are useless.[b]
They cut down a tree in the forest.
A worker uses his tools to make it into an idol.
4 He covers it with silver and gold
to make it look beautiful.
He uses nails to fix it together
so that it will not fall down.
5 Those idols cannot speak.
They are like scarecrows that a farmer puts in his field of vegetables.[c]
The idols cannot walk,
so people have to carry them.
So do not be afraid of them.
They cannot hurt you.
And they do not have any power to help you.’
6 There is nobody like you, Lord.
You are great and your name shows your power.
7 Everyone should respect you,
the King who rules all the nations.
You deserve that people give you honour.
There is nobody like you anywhere in the world.
Among all the wise people of the nations
and among all their kings,
there is no one like you.
8 The people of those nations are stupid and foolish.
They think that wooden idols can teach them something!
9 They bring thin silver from Spain.
They bring gold from Uphaz.
Workers who know how to use wood and metal
make the idols look beautiful.
They put valuable blue and purple clothes on the idols.
Workers who have special skills do this.
10 But the Lord is the only true God.
He is the God who is alive.
He is the King who rules for ever.
When he is angry, the earth shakes.
None of the nations can stop his anger.
11 Tell the nations this:
‘Your gods did not make the earth or the sky.
They will disappear completely from everywhere on earth
and everywhere in the sky.’
12 But the Lord used his power to make the earth.
He used his wisdom to make it strong.
He knew how to put the sky to cover the earth.
13 When he shouts like thunder,
the water in the sky roars.
He causes clouds to rise from the far places of the earth.
He causes bright lightning to show in the storms.
He opens his rooms so that the wind comes out
and it blows everywhere.
14 People who worship idols are stupid.
They do not understand what they are doing.
The men who make idols will be ashamed.
They make images of gods that are false.
None of their idols have the breath of life in them.
15 They are useless things that people should laugh at.
When the time for their punishment arrives,
God will destroy them.
16 The God that Jacob's descendants worship
is not like those idols.
He created everything.
He chose the Israelites as the people who would belong to him.
His name is the Lord Almighty.
God will soon punish the people of Judah
17 Your enemies are all around
and they are ready to attack you.
So get all your things together.
Prepare to leave your country.
18 This is what the Lord says:
‘I will now throw out the people who live in this land.
I will bring much trouble to them,
and they will be in pain.’
19 ‘A terrible thing has happened to us![d]
We have received a very bad wound.
We thought, “We are very ill,
but one day we will get better.”
20 But now they have destroyed our tent.
They have broken the ropes that held it.[e]
Our children have gone,
and none of them remain.
There is nobody still alive
who can help us build our homes again.
21 Our leaders are fools.
They do not ask the Lord for his advice.
So they have failed to take care of us,
and all their people have disappeared.[f]
22 Listen! We have heard the news!
There is the noise of a great army in the north.
It is marching towards us!
It is coming to attack the towns of Judah.
It will make them heaps of stones.
Only wild animals will live in them.
23 Lord, I know that nobody controls their own life.
Nobody can decide what will happen to them.
24 Lord, teach us what is right,
but do it carefully.
Please do not punish us in your anger.
That would be the end of us.
25 Instead, be angry with the nations that do not respect you.
Be angry with the people who do not worship you.
Those are the people who have destroyed Jacob's descendants.[g]
They have killed our people.
They have destroyed our land and our homes.’
Jesus talks about the temple
24 Jesus left the temple. While he was leaving, his disciples came to him. They began to talk to him about the buildings of the temple. 2 So Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, you can see all these beautiful buildings now. But I tell you this: Enemies will completely destroy them.[a] Not even one stone will remain on top of another stone.’
3 After that, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. While he was alone, his disciples came to him. They said to him, ‘Please tell us when all these things will happen. Also tell us what will show us that you will soon return? What will show us that the world will soon end?’
4 Jesus said, ‘You must be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe them. 5 Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am the Messiah.” Many people will believe their false words. 6 You will hear about wars. You will hear reports about wars in other places. But you must not be afraid. Those things must happen first, but it is not yet the end of everything. 7 People in one country will attack the people in another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. In some places, people will be hungry, with no food. The ground will shake in many different places. 8 All those things will be like the first pains that a mother has before her baby is born.
9 Then people will take hold of you and they will give you pain. They will even kill some of you. People in every country will hate you because you are my disciples. 10 At that time, many people who believe in me will stop believing. They will put some of my disciples in the power of their rulers. They will hate each other. 11 Also at that time, many people will say that they are prophets from God. Their message is false, but many people will believe them. 12 More and more people everywhere will be doing very bad things. Because of this, many people will no longer love each other in the way that they did before. 13 But God will save the person who remains strong until the end. 14 People will tell the good news about God's kingdom to people all over the world. People in every country will hear the true message from God. Then God will cause the world to come to an end.
15 Long ago, God's prophet Daniel wrote in the Bible about something that would happen. He said that one day people would put a disgusting thing that causes trouble in the temple. You will see it in the holy place. (When you read this, you must understand what it means.) 16 At that time, people in Judea must run away to the hills to hide.
17 A person who is on the roof of his house must not go down into his house.[b] He must not stop to get anything from his home to take with him. 18 People who are outside in their fields must not go back to their homes. They must not even go to fetch their coats. 19 That will be a bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies! 20 You must pray to God about this time when you have to run away quickly. Pray that this time of trouble will not happen in winter. Pray that it will not happen on your day of rest. 21 Great troubles will happen to people at that time. Nothing as bad has ever happened before, since the beginning of the world. Nothing as bad will ever happen again. 22 God will cause those days of great trouble to be not so many. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to come to an end. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen. 23 At that time, someone may say to you, “Look, here is the Messiah.” Or they may say, “There he is!” When they say that, do not believe them. 24 Some people will say to you, “I am the Messiah!” Other people will say, “I am a prophet from God.” But their words will be false. They will do strange and powerful things for people to see. If possible, they would even deceive the people that God has chosen. 25 So be careful! I have told you about these things before they happen.
26 Some people may say to you, “Look, the Messiah is out there in the wilderness.” But do not go out to see who is there. Some people may say to you, “Look, the Messiah is hiding in that secret room.” You must not believe these people. 27 Lightning shines quickly and it lights up the whole of the sky from one side to the other. It will be like that when the Son of Man returns. 28 If the dead body of an animal is lying somewhere, vultures will come together in that place.[c]
29 Then after all these bad things have happened,
“The sun will become dark.
The moon will not shine any more.
Stars will fall out of the sky.
And the powerful things in the sky will shake.”[d]
30 Then people will see a powerful thing in the sky. This will show them that the Son of Man is coming. All the families of people in the world will cry because they are very sad. Then they will see the Son of Man. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky. He will have great power and bright glory. 31 People will hear the sound of a loud trumpet. The Son of Man will send out his angels. They will go in every direction. They will bring together all the people that God has chosen from every part of the earth and from every part of the sky.’
Jesus tells a story about a fig tree
32 ‘Here is a lesson for you to learn about the fig tree. When the new branches on the tree start to grow, the leaves appear. Then you know that the summer will come soon. 33 In the same way, you will see all these strange things happening. Then you will know that the Son of Man will come very soon. He will be like someone at the door who is ready to come in. 34 I tell you this: The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen. 35 One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.’
Nobody will know when the Son of Man will return
36 Jesus then said, ‘Nobody knows the day or the hour when all these things will happen. Only God the Father knows when they will happen. The angels who are in heaven do not know. Even the Son does not know. 37 Remember what happened when Noah was alive.[e] It will be like that when the Son of Man returns to the earth. 38 In Noah's time, in the days before the flood, people were eating their meals every day. Men married women and women married men. They continued to do all these things until the day that Noah went into his big boat. 39 The people did not know what would happen. Then rain fell for a long time and all these people died in the deep water. When the Son of Man returns, it will happen quickly in the same way. 40 At that time, it will be like this: Two men will be working in a field. God will take one man away, but he will leave the other man behind. 41 Two women will be preparing food together in the same place. God will take one of them away, but he will leave the other woman behind.
42 So you must watch carefully! You do not know the day when your Master will come back. 43 You can be sure about this. The master of a house does not know at what time of night a man would come to rob him. If he knew the time, he would watch his house more carefully. He would not let the robber come into his house and take away his things. 44 So you must also be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not thinking about it.’
Jesus tells a story about two servants
45 Jesus then said, ‘You should be like a wise servant. Be someone that the master can trust. The master will choose a man like that. He will say to him, “Rule over my house and all my other servants. Give everyone their food to eat at the right time.” 46 That servant will be very happy when his master comes home. His master will see that he has done everything well. 47 Yes, I tell you this: The master will give that servant authority to rule over everything in his house. 48 But another servant might be bad. He might say to himself, “My master will not come yet.” 49 Then he begins to hit the other servants. He eats too much and he drinks too much. He meets with other people who become drunk. 50 Then the master of that servant will come home and he will surprise the servant. He did not think that his master would come home on that day or at that time. 51 Then the master will punish him a lot. He will put the servant with those people who do not obey him. The people in that place will cry and they will bite their teeth together.’
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