M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
23 By this time David was an old, old man, so he stepped down from the throne and appointed his son Solomon as the new king of Israel. 2 He summoned all the political and religious leaders of Israel for the coronation ceremony. 3 At this time a census was taken of the men of the tribe of Levi who were thirty years or older. The total came to 38,000.
4-5 “Twenty-four thousand of them will supervise the work at the Temple,” David instructed, “6,000 are to be bailiffs and judges, 4,000 will be Temple guards, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.”
6 Then David divided them into three main divisions named after the sons of Levi—the
7 Subdivisions of the Gershom corps were named after his sons
10-11 The subclans of Shimei were named after his four sons: Jahath was greatest, Zizah[b] was next, and Jeush and Beriah were combined into a single subclan because neither had many sons.
12 The division of Kohath was subdivided into four groups named after his sons
13 Amram was the ancestor of Aaron and Moses.[c] Aaron and his sons were set apart for the holy service of sacrificing the people’s offerings to the Lord. He served the Lord constantly and pronounced blessings in his name at all times.
14-15 As for Moses, the man of God, his sons,
18 The sons of Izhar were led by Shelomith.
19 The sons of Hebron were led by Jeriah. Amariah was second in command, Jahaziel was third, and Jekameam was fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel were led by Micah, and Isshiah was the second in command.
21 The sons of Merari were
24 In the census, all the men of Levi who were twenty years old or older were classified under the names of these clans and subclans; and they were all assigned to the ministry at the Temple. 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem. 26 Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its instruments from place to place.”
27 (This census of the tribe of Levi was one of the last things David did before his death.) 28 The work of the Levites was to assist the priests—the descendants of Aaron—in the sacrifices at the Temple; they also did the custodial work and helped perform the ceremonies of purification. 29 They provided the Bread of the Presence, the flour for the grain offerings, and the wafers made without yeast (either fried or mixed with olive oil); they also checked all the weights and measures. 30 Each morning and evening they stood before the Lord to sing thanks and praise to him. 31 They assisted in the special sacrifices of burnt offerings, the Sabbath sacrifices, the new moon celebrations, and at all the festivals. There were always as many Levites present as were required for the occasion. 32 And they took care of the Tabernacle and the Temple and assisted the priests in whatever way they were needed.
4 Since Christ suffered and underwent pain, you must have the same attitude he did; you must be ready to suffer, too. For remember, when your body suffers, sin loses its power, 2 and you won’t be spending the rest of your life chasing after evil desires but will be anxious to do the will of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things the godless enjoy—sex sin, lust, getting drunk, wild parties, drinking bouts, and the worship of idols, and other terrible sins.[a]
4 Of course, your former friends will be very surprised when you don’t eagerly join them anymore in the wicked things they do, and they will laugh at you in contempt and scorn. 5 But just remember that they must face the Judge of all, living and dead; they will be punished for the way they have lived. 6 That is why the Good News was preached even to those who were dead—killed by the flood[b]—so that although their bodies were punished with death, they could still live in their spirits as God lives.
7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore be earnest, thoughtful men of prayer. 8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love makes up for many of your faults.[c] 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay for the night.
10 God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings. 11 Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ—to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
12 Dear friends, don’t be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you. 13 Instead, be really glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterwards you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory in that coming day when it will be displayed.
14 Be happy if you are cursed and insulted for being a Christian, for when that happens the Spirit of God will come upon you with great glory.[d] 15 Don’t let me hear of your suffering for murdering or stealing or making trouble or being a busybody and prying into other people’s affairs. 16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being in Christ’s family and being called by his wonderful name! 17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin first among God’s own children. And if even we who are Christians must be judged, what terrible fate awaits those who have never believed in the Lord? 18 If the righteous are barely saved, what chance will the godless have?
19 So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.
2 Woe to you who lie awake at night, plotting wickedness; you rise at dawn to carry out your schemes; because you can, you do. 2 You want a certain piece of land or someone else’s house (though it is all he has); you take it by fraud and threats and violence.
3 But the Lord God says, “I will reward your evil with evil; nothing can stop me; never again will you be proud and haughty after I am through with you. 4 Then your enemies will taunt you and mock your dirge of despair: ‘We are finished, ruined. God has confiscated our land and sent us far away; he has given what is ours to others.’” 5 Others will set your boundaries then. “The People of the Lord” will live where they are sent.
6 “Don’t say such things,” the people say. “Don’t harp on things like that. It’s disgraceful, that sort of talk. Such evils surely will not come our way.”
7 Is that the right reply for you to make, O House of Jacob? Do you think the Spirit of the Lord likes to talk to you so roughly? No! His threats are for your good, to get you on the path again.
8 Yet to this very hour my people rise against me. For you steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, who walk in peace.
9 You have driven out the widows from their homes and stripped their children of every God-given right. 10 Up! Begone! This is no more your land and home, for you have filled it with sin, and it will vomit you out.
11 “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and drink”—that is the kind of drunken, lying prophet that you like!
12 “The time will come, O Israel, when I will gather you—all that are left—and bring you together again like sheep in a fold, like a flock in a pasture—a noisy, happy crowd. 13 The Messiah[a] will lead you out of exile and bring you through the gates of your cities of captivity, back to your own land. Your King will go before you—the Lord leads on.”
11 Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, “Lord, teach us a prayer to recite[a] just as John taught one to his disciples.”
2 And this is the prayer he taught them: “Father, may your name be honored for its holiness; send your Kingdom soon. 3 Give us our food day by day. 4 And forgive our sins—for we have forgiven those who sinned against us. And don’t allow us to be tempted.”
5-6 Then, teaching them more about prayer,[b] he used this illustration: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You would shout up to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit and I’ve nothing to give him to eat.’ 7 He would call down from his bedroom, ‘Please don’t ask me to get up. The door is locked for the night and we are all in bed. I just can’t help you this time.’
8 “But I’ll tell you this—though he won’t do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you everything you want—just because of your persistence. 9 And so it is with prayer—keep on asking and you will keep on getting; keep on looking and you will keep on finding; knock and the door will be opened. 10 Everyone who asks, receives; all who seek, find; and the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
11 “You men who are fathers—if your boy asks for bread, do you give him a stone? If he asks for fish, do you give him a snake? 12 If he asks for an egg, do you give him a scorpion? Of course not![c]
13 “And if even sinful persons like yourselves give children what they need, don’t you realize that your heavenly Father will do at least as much, and give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for him?”
14 Once, when Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, his voice returned to him. The crowd was excited and enthusiastic, 15 but some said, “No wonder he can cast them out. He gets his power from Satan,[d] the king of demons!” 16 Others asked for something to happen in the sky to prove his claim of being the Messiah.[e]
17 He knew the thoughts of each of them, so he said, “Any kingdom filled with civil war is doomed; so is a home filled with argument and strife. 18 Therefore, if what you say is true, that Satan is fighting against himself by empowering me to cast out his demons, how can his kingdom survive? 19
21 “For when Satan,[f] strong and fully armed, guards his palace, it is safe— 22 until someone stronger and better armed attacks and overcomes him and strips him of his weapons and carries off his belongings.
23 “Anyone who is not for me is against me; if he isn’t helping me, he is hurting my cause.
24 “When a demon is cast out of a man, it goes to the deserts, searching there for rest; but finding none, it returns to the person it left, 25 and finds that its former home is all swept and clean.[g] 26 Then it goes and gets seven other demons more evil than itself, and they all enter the man. And so the poor fellow is seven times[h] worse off than he was before.”
27 As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that gave you suck!”
28 He replied, “Yes, but even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.”
29-30 As the crowd pressed in upon him, he preached them this sermon: “These are evil times, with evil people. They keep asking for some strange happening in the skies to prove I am the Messiah,[i] but the only proof I will give them is a miracle like that of Jonah, whose experiences proved to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. My similar experience will prove that God has sent me to these people.
31 “And at the Judgment Day the queen of Sheba[j] shall arise and point her finger at this generation, condemning it, for she went on a long, hard journey to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; but one far greater than Solomon is here and few pay any attention.
32 “The men of Nineveh, too, shall arise and condemn this nation, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and someone far greater than Jonah is here, but this nation won’t listen.[k]
33 “No one lights a lamp and hides it! Instead, he puts it on a lampstand to give light to all who enter the room. 34 Your eyes light up your inward being. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. A lustful eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. 35 So watch out that the sunshine isn’t blotted out. 36 If you are filled with light within, with no dark corners, then your face will be radiant too, as though a floodlight is beamed upon you.”
37-38 As he was speaking, one of the Pharisees asked him home for a meal. When Jesus arrived, he sat down to eat without first performing the ceremonial washing required by Jewish custom. This greatly surprised his host.
39 Then Jesus said to him, “You Pharisees wash the outside, but inside you are still dirty—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 Purity is best demonstrated by generosity.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For though you are careful to tithe even the smallest part of your income, you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave these other things undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees! For how you love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the respectful greetings from everyone as you walk through the markets! 44 Yes, awesome judgment is awaiting you. For you are like hidden graves in a field. Men go by you with no knowledge of the corruption they are passing.”
45 “Sir,” said an expert in religious law who was standing there, “you have insulted my profession, too, in what you just said.”
46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “the same horrors await you! For you crush men beneath impossible religious demands—demands that you yourselves would never think of trying to keep. 47 Woe to you! For you are exactly like your ancestors who killed the prophets long ago. 48 Murderers! You agree with your fathers that what they did was right—you would have done the same yourselves.
49 “This is what God says about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to you, and you will kill some of them and chase away the others.’
50 “And you of this generation will be held responsible for the murder of God’s servants from the founding of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will surely be charged against you.
52 “Woe to you experts in religion! For you hide the truth from the people. You won’t accept it for yourselves, and you prevent others from having a chance to believe it.”
53-54 The Pharisees and legal experts were furious; and from that time on they plied him fiercely with a host of questions, trying to trap him into saying something for which they could have him arrested.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.