M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
9 1-2 When the kings of the surrounding area heard what had happened to Jericho, they quickly combined their armies to fight for their lives against Joshua and the Israelis. These were the kings of the nations west of the Jordan River, along the shores of the Mediterranean as far north as the Lebanon mountains—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
3-5 But when the people of Gibeon heard what had happened to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to trickery to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua wearing worn-out clothing, as though from a long journey, with patched shoes, weatherworn saddlebags on their donkeys, old, patched wineskins and dry, moldy bread. 6 When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask for a peace treaty with you.”
7 The Israelis replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”
8 They replied, “We will be your slaves.”
“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
9 And they told him, “We are from a very distant country; we have heard of the might of the Lord your God and of all that he did in Egypt, 10 and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites—Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. 11 So our elders and our people instructed us, ‘Prepare for a long journey; go to the people of Israel and declare our nation to be their servants, and ask for peace.’ 12 This bread was hot from the ovens when we left, but now as you see, it is dry and moldy; 13 these wineskins were new, but now they are old and cracked; our clothing and shoes have become worn out from our long, hard trip.”
14-15 Joshua and the other leaders finally believed them. They did not bother to ask the Lord but went ahead and signed a peace treaty. And the leaders of Israel ratified the agreement with a binding oath.
16 Three days later the facts came out—these men were close neighbors. 17 The Israeli army set out at once to investigate and reached their cities in three days. (The names of the cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.) 18 But the cities were not harmed because of the vow which the leaders of Israel had made before the Lord God. The people of Israel were angry with their leaders because of the peace treaty.
19 But the leaders replied, “We have sworn before the Lord God of Israel that we will not touch them, and we won’t. 20 We must let them live, for if we break our oath, the wrath of Jehovah will be upon us.”
21 So they became servants of the Israelis, chopping their wood and carrying their water.
22 Joshua summoned their leaders and demanded, “Why have you lied to us by saying that you lived in a distant land, when you were actually living right here among us? 23 Now a curse shall be upon you! From this moment you must always furnish us with servants to chop wood and carry water for the service of our God.”
24 They replied, “We did it because we were told that Jehovah instructed his disciple Moses to conquer this entire land and destroy all the people living in it. So we feared for our lives because of you; that is why we have done it. 25 But now we are in your hands; you may do with us as you wish.”
26 So Joshua would not allow the people of Israel to kill them, 27 but they became woodchoppers and water-carriers for the people of Israel and for the altar of the Lord—wherever it would be built (for the Lord hadn’t yet told them where to build it). This arrangement is still in force at the time of this writing.
140 O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent, 2 who plot and stir up trouble all day long. 3 Their words sting like poisonous snakes. 4 Keep me out of their power. Preserve me from their violence, for they are plotting against me. 5 These proud men have set a trap to catch me, a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air; they wait in ambush with a net to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.
6-8 O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior, my God and my shield—hear me as I pray! Don’t let these wicked men succeed; don’t let them prosper and be proud. 9 Let their plots boomerang! Let them be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me. 10 Let burning coals fall down upon their heads, or throw them into the fire or into deep pits from which they can’t escape.
11 Don’t let liars prosper here in our land; quickly punish them. 12 But the Lord will surely help those they persecute; he will maintain the rights of the poor. 13 Surely the godly are thanking you, for they shall live in your presence.
141 Quick, Lord, answer me—for I have prayed. Listen when I cry to you for help! 2 Regard my prayer as my evening sacrifice and as incense wafting up to you.
3 Help me, Lord, to keep my mouth shut and my lips sealed. 4 Take away my lust for evil things; don’t let me want to be with sinners, doing what they do, sharing their delicacies. 5 Let the godly smite me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me, it is medicine! Don’t let me refuse it. But I am in constant prayer against the wicked and their deeds. 6-7 When their leaders are condemned, and their bones are strewn across the ground,[a] then these men will finally listen to me and know that I am trying to help them.
8 I look to you for help, O Lord God. You are my refuge. Don’t let them slay me. 9 Keep me out of their traps. 10 Let them fall into their own snares, while I escape.
3 There is a law[a] that if a man divorces a woman who then remarries, he is not to take her back again, for she has become corrupted. But though you have left me and married many lovers, yet I have invited you to come to me again, the Lord says. 2 Is there a single spot in all the land where you haven’t been defiled by your adulteries—your worshiping these other gods?[b] You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a client! You sit alone like a Bedouin in the desert. You have polluted the land with your vile prostitution. 3 That is why even the springtime rains have failed. For you are a prostitute and completely unashamed. 4-5 And yet you say to me, “O Father, you have always been my Friend; surely you won’t be angry about such a little thing! Surely you will just forget it?” So you talk and keep right on doing all the evil that you can.
6 This message from the Lord came to me during the reign of King Josiah:
Have you seen what Israel does? Like a wanton wife who gives herself to other men at every chance, so Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill, beneath every shady tree. 7 I thought that someday she would return to me and once again be mine; but she didn’t come back. And her faithless sister Judah saw the continued rebellion of Israel. 8 Yet she paid no attention, even though she saw that I divorced faithless Israel. But now Judah too has left me and given herself to prostitution, for she has gone to other gods to worship them. 9 She treated it all so lightly—to her it was nothing at all that she should worship idols made of wood and stone. And so the land was greatly polluted and defiled. 10 Then, afterwards, this faithless one “returned” to me, but her “sorrow” was only faked, the Lord God says. 11 In fact, faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah!
12 Therefore, go and say to Israel, O Israel, my sinful people, come home to me again, for I am merciful; I will not be forever angry with you. 13 Only acknowledge your guilt; admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every tree; confess that you refused to follow me. 14 O sinful children, come home, for I am your Master, and I will bring you again to the land of Israel—one from here and two from there, wherever you are scattered. 15 And I will give you leaders after my own heart, who will guide you with wisdom and understanding.
16 Then, when your land is once more filled with people, says the Lord, you will no longer wish for “the good old days of long ago” when you possessed the Ark of God’s covenant. Those days will not be missed or even thought about, and the Ark will not be reconstructed, for the Lord himself will be among you. 17 The whole city of Jerusalem will be known as the throne of the Lord; all nations will come to him there and no longer stubbornly follow their evil desires. 18 At that time the people of Judah and of Israel will return together from their exile in the north, to the land I gave their fathers as an inheritance forever. 19 And I thought how wonderful it would be for you to be here among my children. I planned to give you part of this beautiful land, the finest in the world. I looked forward to your calling me “Father” and thought that you would never turn away from me again. 20 But you have betrayed me; you have gone off and given yourself to a host of foreign gods; you have been like a faithless wife who leaves her husband.
21 I hear a voice high upon the windswept mountains, crying, crying. It is the sons of Israel who have turned their backs on God and wandered far away. 22 O my rebellious children, come back to me again and I will heal you from your sins.
And they reply, Yes, we will come, for you are the Lord our God. 23 We are weary of worshiping idols on the hills and of having orgies on the mountains. It is all a farce. Only in the Lord our God can Israel ever find her help and her salvation. 24 From our childhood we have seen everything our fathers had—flocks and herds and sons and daughters—squandered on priests and idols. 25 We lie in shame and in dishonor, for we and our fathers have sinned from childhood against the Lord our God; we have not obeyed him.
17 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John to the top of a high and lonely hill, 2 and as they watched, his appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun and his clothing became dazzling white.
3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with him. 4 Peter blurted out, “Sir, it’s wonderful that we can be here! If you want me to, I’ll make three shelters,[a] one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 But even as he said it, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him. Obey him.”[b]
6 At this the disciples fell face downward to the ground, terribly frightened. 7 Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said, “don’t be afraid.”
8 And when they looked, only Jesus was with them.
9 As they were going down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after he had risen from the dead.
10 His disciples asked, “Why do the Jewish leaders insist Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”[c]
11 Jesus replied, “They are right. Elijah must come and set everything in order. 12 And, in fact, he has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and was badly mistreated by many. And I, the Messiah,[d] shall also suffer at their hands.”
13 Then the disciples realized he was speaking of John the Baptist.
14 When they arrived at the bottom of the hill, a huge crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 “Sir, have mercy on my son, for he is mentally deranged and in great trouble, for he often falls into the fire or into the water; 16 so I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t cure him.”
17 Jesus replied, “Oh, you stubborn, faithless people! How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy and it left him, and from that moment the boy was well.
19 Afterwards the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast that demon out?”
20 “Because of your little faith,” Jesus told them. “For if you had faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would go far away. Nothing would be impossible. 21 But this kind of demon won’t leave unless you have prayed and gone without food.”[e]
22-23 One day while they were still in Galilee, Jesus told them, “I am going to be betrayed into the power of those who will kill me, and on the third day afterwards I will be brought back to life again.” And the disciples’ hearts were filled with sorrow and dread.
24 On their arrival in Capernaum, the Temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your master pay taxes?”
25 “Of course he does,” Peter replied.
Then he went into the house to talk to Jesus about it, but before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings levy assessments against their own people or against conquered foreigners?”
26-27 “Against the foreigners,” Peter replied.
“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the shore and throw in a line, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin to cover the taxes for both of us; take it and pay them.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.