M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Altar of Incense
30 “You shall make an altar on which to offer incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.(A) 2 It shall be one cubit long and one cubit wide; it shall be square and shall be two cubits high; its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it; under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall hold the poles for carrying it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall place it in front of the curtain that is above the ark of the covenant, in front of the cover that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.(B) 7 Aaron shall offer fragrant incense on it; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall offer it,(C) 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall offer it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer unholy incense on it or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.(D) 10 Once a year Aaron shall perform the rite of atonement on its horns. Throughout your generations he shall perform the atonement for it once a year with the blood of the atoning purification offering. It is most holy to the Lord.”(E)
The Half Shekel for the Sanctuary
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, at registration all of them shall give a ransom for their lives to the Lord, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered.(F) 13 This is what each one who is registered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.(G) 14 Each one who is registered, from twenty years old and up, shall give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel, when you bring this offering to the Lord to make atonement for your lives.(H) 16 You shall take the atonement money from the Israelites and shall designate it for the service of the tent of meeting; before the Lord it will be a reminder to the Israelites of the ransom given for your lives.”(I)
The Bronze Basin
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, 18 “You shall make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it;(J) 19 with the water[a] Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.(K) 20 When they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister to make an offering by fire[b] to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die: it shall be a perpetual ordinance for them, for him and for his descendants throughout their generations.”(L)
The Anointing Oil and Incense
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred fifty, and two hundred fifty of aromatic cane, 24 and five hundred of cassia—measured by the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil, 25 and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.(M) 26 With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant(N) 27 and the table and all its utensils and the lampstand and its utensils and the altar of incense 28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin with its stand; 29 you shall consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy.(O) 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve me as priests.(P) 31 You shall say to the Israelites: This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be used in any ordinary anointing of the body, and you shall make no other like it in composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.(Q) 33 Whoever blends any like it or whoever puts any of it on an unqualified person shall be cut off from the people.”(R)
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (an equal part of each), 35 and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy,(S) 36 and you shall beat some of it into powder and put part of it before the covenant in the tent of meeting, where I shall meet with you; it shall be most holy for you.(T) 37 When you make incense according to this composition, you shall not make it for yourselves; it shall be regarded by you as holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from the people.”
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
9 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.(A) 4 We[a] must work the works of him who sent me[b] while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.(B) 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”(C) 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,(D) 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.(E) 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.(F) 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.(G) 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”(H)
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus[c] to be the Messiah[d] would be put out of the synagogue.(I) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”(J) 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.(K) 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”(L) 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.(M) 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
Spiritual Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[e](N) 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir?[f] Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”(O) 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”(P) 38 He said, “Lord,[g] I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”(Q) 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”(R) 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.(S)
Practical Admonitions
6 My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself to another,[a](A)
2 you are snared by the utterance of your lips,[b]
caught by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
go, hurry,[c] and plead with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;(B)
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,[d]
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.(C)
6 Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways and be wise.(D)
7 Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
8 it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.(E)
9 How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?(F)
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.(G)
12 A scoundrel and a villain
goes around with crooked speech,(H)
13 winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
pointing the fingers,(I)
14 with perverted mind devising evil,
continually sowing discord;(J)
15 on such a one calamity will descend suddenly,
in a moment, damage beyond repair.(K)
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,(L)
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,(M)
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.(N)
20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(O)
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them around your neck.(P)
22 When you walk, they[e] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[f] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[g] will talk with you.(Q)
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,(R)
24 to preserve you from the wife of another,[h]
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.[i](S)
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes,(T)
26 for a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,[j]
but the wife of another stalks a man’s precious life.(U)
27 Can fire be carried in the bosom
without burning one’s clothes?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
without scorching the feet?
29 So is he who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.(V)
30 Thieves are not despised who steal only
to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
31 Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold;
they will forfeit all the goods of their house.(W)
32 But he who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.(X)
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no restraint when he takes revenge.(Y)
35 He will accept no compensation
and will refuse a bribe no matter how great.
5 1
The Nature of Christian Freedom
2 Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that, if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. 4 You who want to be reckoned as righteous[a] by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.(B) 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.(C) 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working[b] through love.(D)
7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?(E) 8 Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. 10 I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.(F) 11 But my brothers and sisters, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence,[c] but through love become enslaved to one another.(G) 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(H) 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
The Works of the Flesh
16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.(I) 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.(J) 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.(K) 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery,(L) 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.(M)
The Fruit of the Spirit
22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,(N) 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ[e] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.(O) 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.