M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
10 When Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured and destroyed Ai and had killed its king, the same as he had done at Jericho, and how the people of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were now their allies, 2 he was very frightened. For Gibeon was a great city—as great as the royal cities and much larger than Ai—and its men were known as hard fighters. 3 So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent messengers to several other kings: King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, King Debir of Eglon.
4 “Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them, “for they have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.”
5 So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack on Gibeon. 6 The men of Gibeon hurriedly sent messengers to Joshua at Gilgal.
“Come and help your servants!” they demanded. “Come quickly and save us! For all the kings of the Amorites who live in the hills are here with their armies.”
7 So Joshua and the Israeli army left Gilgal and went to rescue Gibeon.
8 “Don’t be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for they are already defeated! I have given them to you to destroy. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.”
9 Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the enemy armies by surprise. 10 Then the Lord threw them into a panic so that the army of Israel slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon and chased the others all the way to Beth-horon and Azekah and Makkedah, killing them along the way. 11 And as the enemy was racing down the hill to Beth-horon, the Lord destroyed them with a great hailstorm that continued all the way to Azekah; in fact, more men died from the hail than by the swords of the Israelis.
12 As the men of Israel were pursuing and harassing the foe, Joshua prayed aloud, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and let the moon stand in its place over the valley of Aijalon!”
13 And the sun and the moon didn’t move until the Israeli army had finished the destruction of its enemies! This is described in greater detail in The Book of Jashar. So the sun stopped in the heavens and stayed there for almost twenty-four hours! 14 There had never been such a day before, and there has never been another since, when the Lord stopped the sun and moon—all because of the prayer of one man. But the Lord was fighting for Israel. 15 (Afterwards Joshua and the Israeli army returned to Gilgal.)
16 During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah. 17 When the news was brought to Joshua that they had been found, 18 he issued a command that a great stone be rolled against the mouth of the cave and that guards be placed there to keep the kings inside.
19 Then Joshua commanded the rest of the army, “Go on chasing the enemy and cut them down from the rear. Don’t let them get back to their cities, for the Lord will help you to completely destroy them.”
20 So Joshua and the Israeli army continued the slaughter and wiped out the five armies except for a tiny remnant that managed to reach their fortified cities. 21 Then the Israelis returned to their camp at Makkedah without having lost a single man! And after that no one dared to attack Israel.
22-23 Joshua now instructed his men to remove the stone from the mouth of the cave and to bring out the five kings—of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 24 Joshua told the captains of his army to put their feet on the kings’ necks.
25 “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua said to his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.”
26 With that, Joshua plunged his sword into each of the five kings, killing them. He then hanged them on five trees until evening.
27 As the sun was going down, Joshua instructed that their bodies be taken down and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding; and a great pile of stones was placed at the mouth of the cave. (The pile is still there today.)
28 On that same day Joshua destroyed the city of Makkedah and killed its king and everyone in it. Not one person in the entire city was left alive. 29 Then the Israelis went to Libnah. 30 There, too, the Lord gave them the city and its king. Every last person was slaughtered, just as at Jericho.
31 From Libnah they went to Lachish and attacked it. 32 And the Lord gave it to them on the second day; here, too, the entire population was slaughtered, just as at Libnah.
33 During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer arrived with his army to try to help defend the city, but Joshua’s men killed him and destroyed his entire army.
34-35 The Israeli army then captured Eglon on the first day and, as at Lachish, they killed everyone in the city. 36 After leaving Eglon they went to Hebron 37 and captured it and all of its surrounding villages, slaughtering the entire population. Not one person was left alive. 38 Then they turned back to Debir, 39 which they quickly captured with all of its outlying villages. And they killed everyone just as they had at Libnah.
40 So Joshua and his army conquered the whole country—the nations and kings of the hill country, the Negeb, the lowlands, and the mountain slopes. They destroyed everyone in the land, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded, 41 slaughtering them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and from Goshen to Gibeon. 42 This was all accomplished in one campaign, for the Lord God of Israel was fighting for his people. 43 Then Joshua and his army returned to their camp at Gilgal.
142 1-2 How I plead with God, how I implore his mercy, pouring out my troubles before him. 3 For I am overwhelmed and desperate, and you alone know which way I ought to turn to miss the traps my enemies have set for me. 4 (There’s one—just over there to the right!) No one gives me a passing thought. No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. 5 Then I prayed to Jehovah. “Lord,” I pled, “you are my only place of refuge. Only you can keep me safe.
6 “Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. 7 Bring me out of prison so that I can thank you. The godly will rejoice with me for all your help.”
143 Hear my prayer, O Lord; answer my plea because you are faithful to your promises.[a] 2 Don’t bring me to trial! For as compared with you, no one is perfect.
3 My enemies chased and caught me. They have knocked me to the ground. They force me to live in the darkness like those in the grave. 4 I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.
5 I remember the glorious miracles you did in days of long ago. 6 I reach out for you. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. 7 Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens; don’t turn away from me or I shall die. 8 Let me see your kindness to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for my prayer is sincere. 9 Save me from my enemies. O Lord, I run to you to hide me. 10 Help me to do your will, for you are my God. Lead me in good paths, for your Spirit is good.
11 Lord, saving me will bring glory to your name. Bring me out of all this trouble because you are true to your promises. 12 And because you are loving and kind to me, cut off all my enemies and destroy those who are trying to harm me; for I am your servant.
4 O Israel, if you will truly return to me and absolutely discard your idols, 2 and if you will swear by me alone, the living God, and begin to live good, honest, clean lives, then you will be a testimony to the nations of the world, and they will come to me and glorify my name.
3 The Lord is saying to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Plow up the hardness of your hearts; otherwise the good seed will be wasted among the thorns. 4 Cleanse your minds and hearts,[a] not just your bodies, or else my anger will burn you to a crisp because of all your sins. And no one will be able to put the fire out.
5 Shout to Jerusalem and to all Judea, telling them to sound the alarm throughout the land. “Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!” 6 Send a signal from Jerusalem: “Flee now, don’t delay!” For I the Lord am bringing vast destruction on you from the north.[b] 7 A lion—a destroyer of nations—stalks from his lair; and he is headed for your land. Your cities will lie in ruin without inhabitant. 8 Put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not stopped yet. 9 In that day, says the Lord, the king and the princes will tremble in fear; and the priests and the prophets will be stricken with horror.
10 (Then I said, “But Lord, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised great blessings on Jerusalem. Yet the sword is even now poised to strike them dead!”)
11-12 At that time he will send a burning wind from the desert upon them—not in little gusts but in a roaring blast—and he will pronounce their doom. 13 The enemy shall roll down upon us like a storm wind; his chariots are like a whirlwind; his steeds are swifter than eagles. Woe, woe upon us, for we are doomed.
14 O Jerusalem, cleanse your hearts while there is time. You can yet be saved by casting out your evil thoughts. 15 From Dan and from Mount Ephraim your doom has been announced. 16 Warn the other nations that the enemy is coming from a distant land, and they shout against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. 17 They surround Jerusalem like shepherds moving in on some wild animal! For my people have rebelled against me, says the Lord. 18 Your ways have brought this down upon you; it is a bitter dose of your own medicine, striking deep within your hearts.
19 My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain; my heart pounds within me. I cannot be still because I have heard, O my soul, the blast of the enemies’ trumpets and the enemies’ battle cries. 20 Wave upon wave of destruction rolls over the land, until it lies in utter ruin; suddenly, in a moment, every house is crushed. 21 How long must this go on? How long must I see war and death surrounding me?
22 “Until my people leave their foolishness, for they refuse to listen to me; they are dull, retarded children who have no understanding. They are smart enough at doing wrong, but for doing right they have no talent, none at all.”
23 I looked down upon their land, and as far as I could see in all directions everything was ruins. And all the heavens were dark. 24 I looked at the mountains and saw that they trembled and shook. 25 I looked, and mankind was gone, and the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 The fertile valleys were wilderness, and all the cities were broken down before the presence of the Lord, crushed by his fierce anger. 27 The Lord’s decree of desolation covers all the land.
“Yet,” he says, “there will be a little remnant of my people left. 28 The earth shall mourn, the heavens shall be draped with black, because of my decree against my people; I have made up my mind and will not change it.”
29 All the cities flee in terror at the noise of marching armies coming near. The people hide in the bushes and flee to the mountains. All the cities are abandoned—all have fled in terror. 30 Why do you put on your most beautiful clothing and jewelry and brighten your eyes with mascara? It will do you no good! Your allies despise you and will kill you.
31 I have heard great crying like that of a woman giving birth to her first child; it is the cry of my people gasping for breath, pleading for help, prostrate before their murderers.
18 About that time the disciples came to Jesus to ask which of them would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!
2 Jesus called a small child over to him and set the little fellow down among them, 3 and said, “Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 And any of you who welcomes a little child like this because you are mine is welcoming me and caring for me. 6 But if any of you causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose his faith,[a] it would be better for you to have a rock tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea.
7 “Woe upon the world for all its evils.[b] Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but woe to the man who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better to enter heaven crippled than to be in hell with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. Better to enter heaven with one eye than to be in hell with two.
10 “Beware that you don’t look down upon a single one of these little children. For I tell you that in heaven their angels have constant access[c] to my Father. 11 And I, the Messiah,[d] came to save the lost.
12 “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? 13 And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home! 14 Just so, it is not my Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.
15 “If a brother sins against you, go to him privately and confront him with his fault. If he listens and confesses it, you have won back a brother. 16 But if not, then take one or two others with you and go back to him again, proving everything you say by these witnesses. 17 If he still refuses to listen, then take your case to the church, and if the church’s verdict favors you, but he won’t accept it, then the church should excommunicate him.[e] 18 And I tell you this—whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you free on earth will be freed in heaven.
19 “I also tell you this—if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I will be right there among them.”
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No!” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven!
23 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him $10 million!
26 “But the man fell down before the king, his face in the dust, and said, ‘Oh, sir, be patient with me and I will pay it all.’
27 “Then the king was filled with pity for him and released him and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a man who owed him $2,000
29 “The man fell down before him and begged him to give him a little time. ‘Be patient and I will pay it,’ he pled.
30 “But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt would be paid in full.
31 “Then the man’s friends went to the king and told him what had happened. 32 And the king called before him the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil-hearted wretch! Here I forgave you all that tremendous debt, just because you asked me to— 33 shouldn’t you have mercy on others, just as I had mercy on you?’
34 “Then the angry king sent the man to the torture chamber until he had paid every last penny due. 35 So shall my heavenly Father do to you if you refuse to truly forgive your brothers.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.