M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

⁶ So Joshua, the son of Nun, called for the priests. He said to them, “Go and get the ark of the covenant of the Lord. I want seven of you to carry trumpets in front of it.” ⁷ He gave an order to the army. He said, “Move out! March around the city. Some of the fighting men must march in front of the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the men, the seven priests went forward. They were carrying the seven trumpets as they marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They were blowing the trumpets. The ark of the Lord’s covenant was carried behind the priests. ⁹ Some of the fighting men marched ahead of the priests who were blowing the trumpets. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all the priests. That whole time the priests were blowing the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua had given an order to the army. He had said, “Don’t give a war cry. Don’t raise your voices. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They spent the night there.

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests went and got the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets started out. They marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They blew the trumpets. Some of the fighting men marched ahead of them. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all of them. The priests kept blowing the trumpets. ¹⁴ On the second day they marched around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They did all those things for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at sunrise. They marched around the city, just as they had done before. But on that day they went around it seven times. ¹⁶ On the seventh time around, the priests blew a long blast on the trumpets. Then Joshua gave a command to the army. He said, “Shout! The Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and everything in it must be set apart to the Lord to be destroyed. But the prostitute Rahab and all those with her in her house must be spared. That’s because she hid the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the things that have been set apart to the Lord. If you take any of them, you will be destroyed. And you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel. You will cause it to be destroyed. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold is holy. It is set apart to the Lord. So are all the things made out of bronze and iron. All those things must be added to the treasures kept in the Lord’s house.”

²⁰ The priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the army heard the sound, they gave a loud shout. Then the wall fell down. Everyone charged straight in. So they took the city. ²¹ They set it apart to the Lord to be destroyed. They destroyed every living thing in it with their swords. They killed men and women. They wiped out young people and old people. They destroyed cattle, sheep and donkeys.

²² Then Joshua spoke to the two men who had gone in to check out the land. He said, “Go into the prostitute’s house. Bring her out. Also bring out everyone with her. That’s what you promised her you would do.” ²³ So the young men who had checked out the land went into Rahab’s house. They brought her out along with her parents and brothers and sisters. They brought out everyone else there with her. They put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Then they burned the whole city and everything in it. But they added the silver and gold to the treasures kept in the Lord’s house. They also put there the things made out of bronze and iron. ²⁵ But Joshua spared the prostitute Rahab. He spared her family. He also spared everyone else in the house with her. He did it because she hid the spies he had sent to Jericho. Rahab lives among the Israelites to this day.

²⁶ At that time Joshua made a promise and called down a curse. He said, “May the person who tries to rebuild this city of Jericho be under the Lord’s curse.

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua. And Joshua became famous everywhere in the land.

The Lord Judges Some People and Blesses Others

66 The Lord says,

¹² The Lord continues,

¹⁷ “Some people set themselves apart and make themselves pure. They do it so they can go into the gardens to worship other gods. They follow what the worship leader tells them to do. They are among those who eat the meat of pigs and rats. They also eat other ‘unclean’ things. Those people and the one they follow will come to a horrible end,” announces the Lord.

¹⁸ “They have planned to do many evil things. And they have carried out their plans. So I will come and gather the people of every nation and language. They will see my glory when I act.

¹⁹ “I will give them a sign. I will send to the nations some of those who are left alive. I will send some of them to the people of Tarshish, Libya and Lydia, who are famous for using bows. I will send others to Tubal and Greece. And I will send still others to islands far away. The people who live there have not heard about my fame. They have not seen my glory. But when I act, those I send will tell the nations about my glory. ²⁰ And they will bring back all the people of Israel from all those nations. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem. My people will ride on horses, mules and camels. They will come in chariots and wagons,” says the Lord. “Those messengers will bring my people as an offering to me. They will bring them to my temple, just as the Israelites bring their grain offerings in bowls that are ‘clean.’ ²¹ And I will choose some of them to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.

²² “I will make new heavens and a new earth. And they will last forever,” announces the Lord. “In the same way, your name and your children after you will last forever. ²³ Everyone will come and bow down to me. They will do it at every New Moon feast and on every Sabbath day,” says the Lord. ²⁴ “When they go out of Jerusalem, they will see the dead bodies of those who refused to obey me. The worms that eat their bodies will not die. The fire that burns them will not be put out. It will make everyone sick just to look at them.”

John the Baptist’s Head Is Cut Off

14 At that time Herod, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, heard reports about Jesus. ² He said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead! That is why he has the power to do miracles.”

³ Herod had arrested John. He had tied him up and put him in prison because of Herodias. She was the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. ⁴ John had been saying to Herod, “It is against the Law for you to have her as your wife.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John. But he was afraid of the people, because they thought John was a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and his guests. She pleased Herod very much. ⁷ So he promised to give her anything she asked for. ⁸ Her mother told her what to say. So the girl said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptist on a big plate.” ⁹ The king was very upset. But he thought of his promise and his dinner guests. So he told one of his men to give her what she asked for. ¹⁰ Herod had John’s head cut off in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a big plate and given to the girl. She then carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

¹³ Jesus heard what had happened to John. He wanted to be alone. So he went in a boat to a quiet place. The crowds heard about this. They followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus came ashore, he saw a large crowd. He felt deep concern for them. He healed their sick people.

¹⁵ When it was almost evening, the disciples came to him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “It’s already getting late. Send the crowds away. They can go and buy some food in the villages.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ Then Jesus directed the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke the loaves into pieces. Then he gave them to the disciples. And the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ All of them ate and were satisfied. The disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces. ²¹ The number of men who ate was about 5,000. Women and children also ate.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Right away Jesus made the disciples get into the boat. He had them go on ahead of him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Then he sent the crowd away. ²³ After he had sent them away, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone. ²⁴ The boat was already a long way from land. It was being pounded by the waves because the wind was blowing against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to the disciples. He walked on the lake. ²⁶ They saw him walking on the lake and were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said. And they cried out in fear.

²⁷ Right away Jesus called out to them, “Be brave! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, is it you?” Peter asked. “If it is, tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” Jesus said.

So Peter got out of the boat. He walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid. He began to sink. He cried out, “Lord! Save me!”

³¹ Right away Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “Your faith is so small!” he said. “Why did you doubt me?”

³² When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those in the boat worshiped Jesus. They said, “You really are the Son of God!”

³⁴ They crossed over the lake and landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ The men who lived there recognized Jesus. So they sent a message all over the nearby countryside. People brought all those who were sick to Jesus. ³⁶ They begged him to let those who were sick just touch the edge of his clothes. And all who touched his clothes were healed.