M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Seven Lamps
8 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you [a]mount the lamps, the seven lamps will (A)give light in the front of the lampstand.’” 3 Aaron therefore did so; he [b]mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 4 (B)Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; (C)according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
Cleansing of the Levites
5 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and (D)cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them, for their [c]cleansing: sprinkle [d]purifying (E)water on them, and let them [e](F)use a razor over their whole [f]body and (G)wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 8 Then let them take a bull from the herd with (H)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull from the herd you shall take for a sin offering. 9 So (I)you shall bring the Levites near before the tent of meeting. (J)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10 and bring the Levites near before Yahweh; and the sons of Israel (K)shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall [g]present the Levites before Yahweh as a (L)wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may be qualified to perform the service of Yahweh. 12 Now (M)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to Yahweh.
14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and (N)the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and (O)present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are (P)wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself (Q)instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For (R)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 (S)And I have given the Levites as [h]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no (T)plague among the sons of Israel by [i]their coming near to the sanctuary.”
20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 (U)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Yahweh. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Retirement of the Levites
23 Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: from (V)twenty-five years old and upward [j]they shall enter to perform their duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 But at the age of fifty years they shall [k]retire from their duty in the service and not serve anymore. 26 They may, however, minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting (W)in order to keep up their responsibility, but they themselves shall perform no service. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their responsibilities.”
Rise Up, Be Our Help
For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A [a]Maskil.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have recounted to us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)dispossessed the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)cast them out.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]salvation for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
And my sword will not save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have plundered us for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]for no amount,
And You have not [f]profited from their price.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]the (AG)shame of my face has covered me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
Nor have our steps (AM)deviated from Your path,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or spread our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are counted as (AU)sheep for the slaughter.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our [j]body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
Solomon and His Bride Extol Each Other
6 “[a](A)Where has your beloved gone,
O (B)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”
2 “[b]My beloved has gone down to his (C)garden,
To the (D)beds of spices,
To (E)shepherd his flock in the gardens
And gather (F)lilies.
3 (G)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who (H)shepherds his flock among the lilies.”
4 “[c](I)You are as beautiful as (J)Tirzah, my darling,
As (K)lovely as (L)Jerusalem,
As (M)majestic as [d]an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have overwhelmed me;
(N)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have leapt down from Gilead.
6 (O)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has [e]lost her young.
7 (P)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 There are sixty (Q)queens and eighty concubines,
And [f](R)maidens without number;
9 She is the only one—(S)my dove, my perfect one;
She is the only one of her mother;
She is the pure one of her who bore her.
The (T)daughters saw her and called her blessed,
The (U)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full (V)moon,
As pure (W)as the sun,
As (X)majestic as [g]an army with banners?’
Warning Against Falling Away
6 Therefore (A)leaving (B)the [a]elementary teaching about the [b]Christ, let us press on to [c](C)maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from (D)dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of (E)teaching about washings and (F)laying on of hands, and the (G)resurrection of the dead and (H)eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, (I)if God permits. 4 For in the case of those once having been (J)enlightened and having tasted of (K)the heavenly gift and having become (L)partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and having (M)tasted the good (N)word of God and the powers of (O)the age to come, 6 and having fallen away, it is (P)impossible to renew them again to repentance, [d](Q)since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often [e]falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those (R)for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is unfit and (S)close [f]to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
The Inheritance of the Promises
9 But we are convinced about you, (T)beloved, of things that are better and that belong to salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For (U)God is not unrighteous so as to forget (V)your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having (W)ministered and continuing to minister to the [g]saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence [h]so as to realize the (X)full assurance of (Y)hope until the end, 12 so that you may not become dull, but (Z)imitators of those who through (AA)faith and patience (AB)inherit the promises.
13 For (AC)when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He (AD)swore by Himself, 14 saying, “(AE)I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply you.” 15 And so, (AF)having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 (AG)For men swear by [i]one greater than themselves, and with them (AH)an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 [j]In the same way God, desiring even more to show to (AI)the heirs of the promise (AJ)the unchangeableness of His purpose, guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which (AK)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of (AL)the hope set before us. 19 [k]This (AM)hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and confirmed and one which (AN)enters [l]within the veil, 20 (AO)where a forerunner has entered for us—Jesus, having become a (AP)high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
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