M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 22
Priestly Purity.[a] 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings which the Israelites consecrate to me; otherwise they will profane my holy name. I am the Lord.
3 [b]Tell them: If any one of you, or of your descendants in any future generation, dares, while he is in a state of uncleanness, to draw near the sacred offerings which the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, such a one shall be cut off from my presence.(A) I am the Lord.
4 No descendant of Aaron who is stricken with a scaly infection,(B) or who suffers from a genital discharge,(C) may eat of the sacred offerings, until he again becomes clean. Moreover, if anyone touches a person who has become unclean by contact with a corpse,(D) or if anyone has had an emission of semen,(E) 5 or if anyone touches any swarming creature(F) whose uncleanness is contagious or any person whose uncleanness, of whatever kind it may be, is contagious—(G) 6 the one who touches such as these shall be unclean until evening and may not eat of the sacred portions until he has first bathed his body in water.(H) 7 Then, when the sun sets, he shall be clean.(I) Only then may he eat of the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 8 [c]He shall not make himself unclean by eating of any animal that has died of itself or has been killed by wild beasts.(J) I am the Lord.
9 They shall keep my charge so that they will not bear the punishment in this matter and die(K) for their profanation. I am the Lord who makes them holy.
10 Neither an unauthorized person nor a priest’s tenant or laborer may eat of any sacred offering.(L) 11 But a slave[d] whom a priest acquires by purchase or who is born in his house may eat of his food. 12 [e]A priest’s daughter who is married to an unauthorized person may not eat of the sacred contributions. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and, having no children, returns to her father’s house, she may then eat of her father’s food as in her youth. No unauthorized person, however, may eat of it. 14 (M)If such a one eats of a sacred offering through inadvertence, that person shall make restitution to the priest for the sacred offering, with an increment of one fifth of the amount. 15 The priests shall not allow the sacred offerings which the Israelites contribute to the Lord to be profaned(N) 16 nor make them incur a penalty when they eat their sacred offerings. For I, the Lord, make them holy.
Unacceptable Victims. 17 [f]The Lord said to Moses: 18 Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites, and tell them: When anyone of the house of Israel, or any alien residing in Israel, who presents an offering, brings a burnt offering(O) as a votive offering or as a voluntary offering to the Lord, 19 if it is to be acceptable for you, it must be an unblemished male of the herd, of the sheep or of the goats.(P) 20 You shall not offer one that has any blemish, for such a one would not be acceptable on your behalf.(Q) 21 When anyone presents a communion sacrifice(R) to the Lord from the herd or the flock in fulfillment of a vow, or as a voluntary offering, if it is to find acceptance, it must be unblemished; it shall not have any blemish. 22 One that is blind or lame or maimed, or one that has running lesions or sores or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord; do not put such an animal on the altar as an oblation to the Lord. 23 [g]An ox or a sheep that has a leg that is too long or is stunted you may indeed present as a voluntary offering, but it will not be acceptable as a votive offering. 24 One that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn out or cut off you shall not offer to the Lord. You shall neither do this in your own land 25 nor receive from a foreigner any such animals to offer up as the food of your God; since they are deformed or blemished, they will not be acceptable on your behalf.
26 [h]The Lord said to Moses: 27 When an ox or a lamb or a goat is born, it shall remain with its mother for seven days; only from the eighth day onward will it be acceptable, to be offered as an oblation to the Lord.(S) 28 You shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep on one and the same day with its young. 29 Whenever you offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, so offer it that it may be acceptable on your behalf; 30 it must be eaten on the same day; none of it shall be left over until morning.(T) I am the Lord.
31 Be careful to observe my commandments. I am the Lord. 32 Do not profane my holy name, that in the midst of the Israelites I may be hallowed. I, the Lord, make you holy, 33 who led you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.
Psalm 28[a]
Petition and Thanksgiving
1 Of David.
I
To you, Lord, I call;
my Rock, do not be deaf to me,(A)
Do not be silent toward me,
so that I join those who go down to the pit.(B)
2 Hear the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help
when I lift up my hands toward your holy place.[b](C)
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with those who do wrong,(D)
Who speak peace to their neighbors
though evil is in their hearts.(E)
4 Repay them for their deeds,
for the evil that they do.
For the work of their hands repay them;
give them what they deserve.(F)
5 Because they do not understand the Lord’s works,
the work of his hands,(G)
He will tear them down,
never to rebuild them.
II
6 [c]Blessed be the Lord,
who has heard the sound of my pleading.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield,
in whom my heart trusts.
I am helped, so my heart rejoices;
with my song I praise him.
III
8 [d]Lord, you are a strength for your people,
the saving refuge of your anointed.
9 Save your people, bless your inheritance;
pasture and carry them forever!
Psalm 29[e]
The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World
1 A psalm of David.
I
Give to the Lord, you sons of God,[f]
give to the Lord glory and might;
2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bow down before the Lord’s holy splendor!(H)
II
3 The voice of the Lord[g] is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is power;
the voice of the Lord is splendor.(I)
5 The voice of the Lord cracks the cedars;
the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon,
6 Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
and Sirion[h] like a young bull.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes with fiery flame;
8 the voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
9 [i]The voice of the Lord makes the deer dance
and strips the forests bare.
All in his Temple say, “Glory!”
III
Chapter 5
1 [a]Be not hasty in your utterance and let not your heart be quick to utter a promise in God’s presence. God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.(A)
2 As dreams come along with many cares,
so a fool’s voice along with a multitude of words.
3 (B)When you make a vow to God, delay not its fulfillment. For God has no pleasure in fools; fulfill what you have vowed. 4 It is better not to make a vow than make it and not fulfill it. 5 Let not your utterances make you guilty, and say not before his representative, “It was a mistake.” Why should God be angered by your words and destroy the works of your hands? 6 (C)Despite many dreams, futilities, and a multitude of words, fear God!
Gain and Loss of Goods. 7 (D)If you see oppression of the poor, and violation of rights and justice in the realm, do not be astonished by the fact, for the high official has another higher than he watching him and above these are others higher still—. 8 But profitable for a land in such circumstances is a king concerned about cultivation.[b]
9 (E)The covetous are never satisfied with money, nor lovers of wealth with their gain; so this too is vanity. 10 Where there are great riches, there are also many to devour them. Of what use are they to the owner except as a feast for the eyes alone? 11 Sleep is sweet to the laborer, whether there is little or much to eat; but the abundance of the rich allows them no sleep.
12 This is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches hoarded by their owners to their own hurt. 13 Should the riches be lost through some misfortune, they may have offspring when they have no means. 14 (F)As they came forth from their mother’s womb, so again shall they return, naked as they came, having nothing from their toil to bring with them. 15 This too is a grievous evil, that they go just as they came. What then does it profit them to toil for the wind? 16 All their days they eat in gloom with great vexation, sickness and resentment.
17 (G)Here is what I see as good: It is appropriate to eat and drink and prosper from all the toil one toils at under the sun during the limited days of life God gives us; for this is our lot. 18 Those to whom God gives riches and property, and grants power to partake of them, so that they receive their lot and find joy in the fruits of their toil: This is a gift from God. 19 For they will hardly dwell on the shortness of life, because God lets them busy themselves with the joy of their heart.[c]
I. Address
Chapter 1
Greeting.[a] 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God(A) for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,[b] 2 to Timothy, my dear child: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving. 3 (B)I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,[c] as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. 4 [d]I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, 5 as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you.(C)
II. Exhortations to Timothy
The Gifts Timothy Has Received. 6 For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God[e] that you have through the imposition of my hands.(D) 7 For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.(E) 8 So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,[f] nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.(F)
9 [g]He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,(G) 10 but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,(H) 11 [h]for which I was appointed preacher and apostle(I) and teacher. 12 [i]On this account I am suffering these things; but I am not ashamed,(J) for I know him in whom I have believed and am confident that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day. 13 Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.(K) 14 Guard this rich trust with the help of the holy Spirit that dwells within us.(L)
Paul’s Suffering. 15 [j](M)You know that everyone in Asia deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 [k]May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus(N) because he often gave me new heart and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 But when he came to Rome, he promptly searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord[l] on that day. And you know very well the services he rendered in Ephesus.(O)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.