M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

14 Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the leaders of all the tribes of Israel decided what land to give to the people. ² The Lord had commanded Moses long ago how he wanted the people to choose their land. The people of the nine-and-a-half tribes threw lots to decide which land they would receive. ³ Moses had already given the two-and-a-half tribes their land east of the Jordan River. But the tribe of Levi was not given any land like the others. ⁴ The sons of Joseph had divided into two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The tribe of Levi was not given any land. It was given only some towns in which to live. It was also given pastures for its animals. ⁵ The Lord had told Moses how to give the land to the tribes of Israel. The Israelites divided the land as the Lord had commanded.

Caleb’s Land

⁶ One day some men from the tribe of Judah went to Joshua at Gilgal. One of those men was Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. He said to Joshua, “You remember what the Lord said at Kadesh Barnea. He was speaking to the prophet Moses about you and me. ⁷ Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me to look at the land where we were going. I was 40 years old then. When I came back, I told Moses what I thought about the land. ⁸ The other men who went with me told the people things that made them afraid. But I fully believed the Lord would allow us to take the land. ⁹ So that day Moses promised me, ‘The land where you went will become your land. Your children will own it forever. I will give you that land because you fully believed in the Lord, my God.’

¹⁰ “Now then, the Lord has kept his promise. He has kept me alive for 45 years from the time he said this to Moses. During that time we all wandered in the desert. Now here I am, 85 years old. ¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. I am just as ready to fight now as I was then. ¹² So give me the mountain country the Lord promised me that day long ago. Back then you heard that the Anakite people lived there. And the cities were large and well protected. But now with the Lord helping me, I will force them out, just as the Lord said.”

¹³ Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh. He gave him the city of Hebron as his own. ¹⁴ And Hebron still belongs to the family of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. It still belongs to his people because he had faith. He obeyed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ (In the past it was called Kiriath Arba. It was named for the greatest man among the Anakites. He was named Arba.)

After this there was peace in the land.

Land for Judah

15 The land that was given to the tribe of Judah was divided among all the family groups. It went all the way to the Desert of Zin in the far south, at the border of Edom.

² The southern border of Judah’s land started at the south end of the Dead Sea. ³ It went south of Scorpion Pass to Zin. From there it passed to the south of Kadesh Barnea. It continued past Hezron to Addar. From Addar it turned and went to Karka. ⁴ It continued to Azmon, the brook of Egypt and then to the Mediterranean Sea. This was the southern border.

⁵ The eastern border was the shore of the Dead Sea. It went as far as the area where the Jordan River flowed into the sea.

The northern border started at the area where the Jordan River flowed into the Dead Sea. ⁶ Then it went to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah. It continued to the stone of Bohan. Bohan was the son of Reuben. ⁷ Then the northern border went through the Valley of Achor to Debir. There it turned toward the north and went to Gilgal. Gilgal is across from the road that goes through the mountain of Adummim. It is on the south side of the ravine. The border continued along the waters of En Shemesh. It stopped at En Rogel. ⁸ Then it went through the Valley of Ben Hinnom. This is next to the southern side of the Jebusite city. (That city was called Jerusalem.) There the border went to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley. This was at the northern end of the Valley of Giants. ⁹ From there it went to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah. Then it went to the cities near Mount Ephron. There it turned and went toward Baalah. (Baalah is also called Kiriath Jearim.) ¹⁰ At Baalah the border turned west and went toward Mount Edom. It continued along the north side of Mount Jearim (also called Kesalon) and came to Beth Shemesh. From there it went past Timnah. ¹¹ Then it went to the hill north of Ekron. From there it turned toward Shikkeron and went past Mount Baalah. It continued on to Jabneel and ended at the sea.

¹² The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. Inside these borders lived the family groups of Judah.

¹³ The Lord had commanded Joshua to give Caleb son of Jephunneh part of the land in Judah. So he gave Caleb the land God had commanded. He gave him the town of Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹⁴ Caleb forced out the three Anakite families living in Hebron. Those families were Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. They were descendants of Anak. ¹⁵ Then he fought against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir had been called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹⁶ Caleb said, “I want a man to attack and capture Kiriath Sepher. I will give him Acsah, my daughter, as a wife.” ¹⁷ Othniel son of Kenaz defeated the city. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁸ Acsah wanted Othniel to ask her father Caleb for more land.

So Acsah went to her father. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

¹⁹ Acsah answered, “I would like a special favor. The land you gave me is very dry. So also give me land with springs of water on it.”

So Caleb gave her land with springs of water on the upper and lower part of it.

²⁰ The tribe of Judah got the land God had promised them. Each family group got part of the land.

²¹ The tribe of Judah got all the towns in the southern part of Canaan. These towns were near the border of Edom. Here is a list of the towns: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²² Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³ Kedesh, Hazor and Ithnan; ²⁴ Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵ Hazor Hadattah and Kerioth Hezron (also called Hazor); ²⁶ Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷ Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon and Beth Pelet; ²⁸ Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹ Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰ Eltolad, Kesil and Hormah; ³¹ Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³² Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon. There were 29 towns and all their fields.

³³ The tribe of Judah got these towns in the western mountain slopes: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴ Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah and Enam; ³⁵ Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶ Shaaraim, Adithaim and Gederah (also called Gederothaim). There were 14 towns and all their fields.

³⁷ Judah was also given these towns in the western mountain slopes: Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, ³⁸ Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, ³⁹ Lachish, Bozkath and Eglon; ⁴⁰ Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, ⁴¹ Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah and Makkedah. There were 16 towns and all their fields.

⁴² Judah was also given these towns in the western mountain slopes: Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³ Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴ Keilah, Aczib and Mareshah. There were nine towns and all their fields.

⁴⁵ The tribe of Judah also got the town of Ekron and all the small towns and fields near it. ⁴⁶ They also got the area west of Ekron and all the fields and towns near Ashdod. ⁴⁷ Ashdod and all the small towns around it were part of the land of Judah. They also got the fields and towns around Gaza. Their land continued to the brook of Egypt. And it went on along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴⁸ The tribe of Judah was also given these towns in the mountains: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹ Dannah and Kiriath Sannah (also called Debir); ⁵⁰ Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹ Goshen, Holon and Giloh. There were 11 towns and all their fields.

⁵² They were also given these towns in the mountains: Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³ Janim, Beth Tappuah and Aphekah; ⁵⁴ Humtah, Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) and Zior. There were 9 towns and all their fields.

⁵⁵ Judah was also given these towns in the mountains: Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶ Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷ Kain, Gibeah and Timnah. There were 10 towns and all their fields.

⁵⁸ They were also given these towns in the mountains: Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹ Maarath, Beth Anoth and Eltekon. There were 6 towns and all their fields.

⁶⁰ The people of Judah were also given the 2 towns of Rabbah and Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim).

⁶¹ Judah was given towns in the desert. Here are those towns: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶² Nibshan, the City of Salt and En Gedi. There were 6 towns and all their fields.

⁶³ The army of Judah was not able to force out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So the Jebusites still live among the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.

Praise God Who Helps the Weak

Praise God Who Helps His People

Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon

7 This is the word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: ² “Stand at the gate of the Temple. Preach this message there:

“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of the nation of Judah! All you who come through these gates to worship the Lord, listen to this message! ³ This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Change your lives and do what is right! If you do, I will let you live in this place. ⁴ Don’t trust the lies that some people say! They say, “This is the Temple of the Lord. This is the Temple of the Lord. This is the Temple of the Lord!” ⁵ You must change your lives and do what is right. You must be fair to each other. ⁶ You must not be hard on the strangers, the orphans and widows. Don’t kill innocent people in this place! Don’t follow other gods, or they will ruin your lives. ⁷ If you do these things, I will let you live in this land. This is the land I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.

⁸ “‘But look! You are trusting lies. Such trust is useless. ⁹ Will you steal and murder? Will you be guilty of adultery? Will you falsely accuse other people? Will you worship the false god Baal? And will you follow other gods you have not known? ¹⁰ If you do that, do you think you can come before me? Can you stand in this place where I have chosen to be worshiped? Do you think you can say, “We are safe!” Are you safe to do all these hated things? ¹¹ This is the place where I have chosen to be worshiped. Is it nothing more to you than a hideout for robbers? I have been watching you, says the Lord!

¹² “‘You people of Judah, go now to the town of Shiloh. It was there that I first made a place to be worshiped. Go there and see what I did because of the evil things they had done. ¹³ You people of Israel were doing all these evil things, says the Lord. I spoke to you again and again. But you did not listen to me. I called you, but you did not answer. ¹⁴ So I will destroy the place where I have chosen to be worshiped in Jerusalem. You trust in that place. I gave it to you and your ancestors. But I will destroy it just as I destroyed Shiloh. ¹⁵ I will push you away from me. I will do it just as I pushed away your brothers, the people of Israel!’

¹⁶ “As for you, Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry out for them or ask anything for them. Don’t beg me to help them. I will not listen to you. ¹⁷ Don’t you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah? Don’t you see what they are doing in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ This is what the people of Judah are doing: The children gather wood. The fathers use the wood to make a fire. The women make the dough for cakes of bread. And they offer them to the Queen Goddess. They pour out drink offerings to worship other gods. They do this to make me angry. ¹⁹ But I am not the one the people of Judah are really hurting, says the Lord. They are only hurting themselves. They are bringing shame upon themselves.

²⁰ “‘So this is what the Lord says: I will pour out my anger on this place. I will pour it out on man and animal. I will pour out my anger on the trees in the field. And I will pour it out on the crops in the ground. My anger will be like a hot fire. And no one will be able to put it out.

Obedience Is More than Sacrifice

²¹ “‘This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Go and offer as many burnt offerings and sacrifices as you want! Eat the meat of those sacrifices yourselves! ²² I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. I spoke to them. But I did not give them commands only about burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ I also gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Do all that I command, and good things will happen to you. ²⁴ But your ancestors did not listen or pay attention to me. They were stubborn and did whatever their evil hearts wanted. They went backward, not forward. ²⁵ Since the day your ancestors left Egypt, I have sent you my servants, the prophets. I sent them to you again and again. ²⁶ But your ancestors did not listen or pay attention to me. They were very stubborn. And they did more evil than their ancestors.’

²⁷ “Jeremiah, you will tell these things to the people of Judah. But they will not listen to you! You will call to them, but they will not answer you. ²⁸ So say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God. These people do nothing when I correct them. They do not tell the truth. It has disappeared from their lips.

The Valley of Killing

²⁹ “‘Cut off your hair and throw it away. Go up to the bare hilltop and cry. Do it because I, the Lord, have rejected these people. I have turned my back on them. And in my anger I will punish them! ³⁰ The people of Judah have done what I said was evil, says the Lord. They have set up their hated idols in the place where I have chosen to be worshiped. They have made it unclean! ³¹ The people of Judah have built places of worship at Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. There the people offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices. This is something I never commanded. It never even entered my mind! ³² So, I warn you. The days are coming, says the Lord, when people will not call this place Topheth. They will not call it the Valley of Ben Hinnom anymore. They will call it the Valley of Killing. They will bury dead people in Topheth until there is no room to bury anyone else! ³³ Then the bodies of the dead will lie on top of the ground. They will become food for the birds of the sky. Wild animals will eat the bodies. There will be no one left alive to chase the birds or animals away. ³⁴ I will end the happy sounds of the bride and bridegroom. There will be no happy sounds in Judah or in the streets of Jerusalem. The land will become an empty desert!

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into the town. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell him, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’” ⁴ This was to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said:

⁶ The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus. They laid their coats on the donkeys, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road before Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. All the people were shouting,

¹⁰ Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. The city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”

¹¹ The crowd answered, “This man is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Goes to the Temple

¹² Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹³ Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’^[b] But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”^[c]

¹⁴ The blind and crippled people came to Jesus in the Temple, and Jesus healed them. ¹⁵ The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things. They saw the children praising him in the Temple. The children were saying, “Praise^[d] to the Son of David.” All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law very angry.

¹⁶ They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”

Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’?”^[e]

¹⁷ Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

The Power of Faith

¹⁸ Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit!” The tree immediately dried up.

²⁰ His followers saw this and were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. ²² If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority

²³ Jesus went to the Temple. While he was teaching there, the leading priests and the elders of the people came to Jesus. They said to him, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question, too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ²⁵ Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”

The priests and the leaders argued about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘It was from man,’ we are afraid of what the people will do because they all believe that John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things!

A Story About Two Sons

²⁸ “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son decided he should go, and he went. ³⁰ Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. ³² John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw this, but you still refused to change and believe him.

God Sends His Son

³³ “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the vineyard and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. ³⁴ Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵ But the farmers grabbed the servants, beat one, killed another, and then killed a third servant with stones. ³⁶ So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to the servants that they had done before. ³⁷ So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then his vineyard will be ours!’ ³⁹ So the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”

⁴¹ The priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:

⁴³ “So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do the things God wants in his kingdom. ⁴⁴ The person who falls on this stone will be broken. But if the stone falls on him, he will be crushed.”^[f]

⁴⁵ The leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories that Jesus told. They knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him. But they were afraid of the people, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.