M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Use of Holy Offerings
22 And the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to keep away from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4 None of the line of Aaron who is a leper or suffers a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and whoever touches a creeping thing by which he may be made unclean or a man from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who touches any such shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 When the sun is down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because such are his food. 8 That which dies of itself or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, defiling himself by it: I am the Lord.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the Lord who sanctify them.
10 “An outsider shall not eat of a holy thing. A sojourner of the priest’s or a hired servant shall not eat of a holy thing; 11 but if a priest buys a slave as his property for money, the slave may eat of it; and those that are born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider she shall not eat of the offering of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no outsider shall eat of it. 14 And if a man eats of a holy thing unwittingly, he shall add the fifth of its value to it, and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 The priests shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctify them.”
Acceptable Offerings
17 And the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Say to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents his offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering which is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, 19 to be accepted you shall offer a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when any one offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, to fulfil a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord or make of them an offering by fire upon the altar to the Lord. 23 A bull or a lamb which has a part too long or too short you may present for a freewill offering; but for a votive offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord or sacrifice within your land; 25 neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”
26 And the Lord said to Moses, 27 “When a bull or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 And whether the mother is a cow or a ewe, you shall not kill both her and her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day, you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.
31 “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the people of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctify you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.”
Prayer for Help and Thanksgiving for It
A Psalm of David.
28 To thee, O Lord, I call;
my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if thou be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the Pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to thee for help,
as I lift up my hands
towards thy most holy sanctuary.[a]
3 Take me not off with the wicked,
with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors,
while mischief is in their hearts.
4 Requite them according to their work,
and according to the evil of their deeds;
requite them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
for he has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 O save thy people, and bless thy heritage;
be thou their shepherd, and carry them for ever.
The Voice of God in a Great Storm
A Psalm of David.
29 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,[b]
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy array.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, upon many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful,
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sir′ion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness,
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the oaks to whirl,[c]
and strips the forests bare;
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!
Reverence, Humility, and Contentment
5 [a] Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 [b]Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.
3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.
4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger[c] that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?
7 For when dreams increase, empty words grow many:[d] but do you fear God.
8 If you see in a province the poor oppressed and justice and right violently taken away, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9 But in all, a king is an advantage to a land with cultivated fields.[e]
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity.
11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let him sleep.
13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture; and he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he that he toiled for the wind, 17 and spent all his days in darkness and grief,[f] in much vexation and sickness and resentment?
18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and to be fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life which God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Every man also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and find enjoyment in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving and Encouragement
3 I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, as did my fathers, when I remember you constantly in my prayers. 4 As I remember your tears, I long night and day to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lo′is and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you. 6 Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.
8 Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, 10 and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.[a] 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; 14 guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, and among them Phy′gelus and Hermog′enes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiph′orus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.