M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 23[a]
Holy Days. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: These are the feasts of the Lord on which you shall proclaim holy assemblies, these are my feasts:
3 [b]“For six days work can be done, but the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, a holy assembly. You will do no work on it; it is a Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. 4 These are the feasts of the Lord, holy assemblies that you shall proclaim at their appointed time.
Passover.[c] 5 “The evening of the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord’s Passover. 6 The fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days. 7 On the first day you are to have a holy assembly. No heavy labor is to be done on that day. 8 You will make an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day you are to have a holy assembly. No heavy labor is to be done on that day.”
9 [d]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, and you collect the harvest, you are to bring an omer measure of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the omer before the Lord so that it might be acceptable for you. The priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day that you wave the omer, you shall offer a one-year-old male lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering is to be two-tenths of an omer of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, a pleasing fragrance. Bring a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering. 14 You are not to eat bread or roasted grain or the green heads of grain until that day that you have brought your offering to your God. This is a statute from one generation to the next in all of your dwellings.
15 Pentecost.[e]“You shall count off for yourselves seven complete Sabbaths from the day after the Sabbath when you brought your omer as a wave offering. 16 On the day after the seventh Sabbath, having counted fifty days, you shall offer a new cereal offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring out from your dwellings loaves of bread as wave offerings that have been made with two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They are to be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the bread you shall offer seven lambs without blemish and one young bull and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. Together with the cereal offerings and the drink offerings, you are to make an offering by fire, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord. 19 You shall sacrifice one of the kid goats as a sin offering and you shall sacrifice two of the one-year-old lambs as a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them together with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering to the Lord, with two holy lambs. They shall be an offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 You shall proclaim on that day that there is to be a holy assembly. You are not to do any heavy labor. This shall be a statute forever in all of your dwellings, from one generation to the next.
22 “When you collect the harvest of your land, you shall not gather it right up to the corners of the field, nor shall you gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord, your God.”
23 New Year’s Day.[f] The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Speak to the children of Israel saying: On the first day of the seventh month you shall observe a Sabbath, a memorial with the blowing of trumpets, a holy assembly. 25 You shall do no heavy labor. You shall make an offering by fire to the Lord.”
26 Day of Atonement.[g] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “The tenth day of the seventh month shall be a Day of Atonement. You shall have a holy assembly and you shall humble yourselves. You shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not work on this day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord, your God. 29 Whoever does not humble himself that day shall be cut off from among his people. 30 I will destroy whoever does any work on that day from among his people. 31 You shall do absolutely no work. This shall be a statute forever from one generation to the next in all of your dwellings. 32 It shall be a Sabbath of rest for you. You shall humble yourselves on the evening of the ninth of the month. You shall celebrate your Sabbath from that evening until the next.”
33 Feast of Booths.[h] The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Lord’s Feast of Booths, for seven days. 35 On the first day you shall have a holy assembly. You shall do no heavy labor. 36 For seven days you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy assembly and you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a holy assembly, and you shall do no heavy labor. 37 These are the feasts of the Lord on which you shall proclaim holy assemblies, making a burnt offering to the Lord, and offering up a cereal offering, a sacrifice, and a drink offering, each on its own day, 38 in addition to the Sabbaths of the Lord, your gifts, your vows, and all of the free-will offerings that you give to the Lord. 39 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord for seven days. On the first day there will be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day there will be a Sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you shall gather for yourselves the shoots of the healthy trees, fronds from the palm trees, branches from the leafy trees, and willows from the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord, your God, for seven days. 41 You shall observe it as a feast of the Lord for seven days each year. This is a statute forever, from one generation to the next, that you shall celebrate in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in tents for seven days. All native-born Israelites shall dwell in tents 43 so that all of your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.”
44 This is how Moses described the feasts of the Lord to the children of Israel.
Psalm 30[a]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
1 A psalm. A song for the dedication of the temple. Of David.
2 I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you have raised me out of the depths[b]
and have not let my enemies exult over me.
3 O Lord, my God,
I called to you and you healed me.[c]
4 O Lord, you lifted me up from the netherworld;[d]
you saved me from sinking into the pit.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, O you his saints;[e]
give thanks to his holy name.
6 For his anger lasts for only a moment,
while his goodwill endures for a lifetime.
Weeping may last throughout the night,[f]
but at daybreak there is rejoicing.
7 In time of good fortune, I said,
“Nothing can ever sway me.”[g]
8 O Lord, in your goodness
you established me as an impregnable mountain;
however, when you hid your face,
I was filled with terror.
9 [h]To you, O Lord, I cried out,
and I implored my God for mercy:
10 “What advantage would my death provide
if I descend into the pit?
Can the dust praise you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?
11 Listen, O Lord, and have mercy on me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
12 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken away my sackcloth[i]
and clothed me with joy.
13 My heart[j] will therefore sing
in unceasing praise to you;
O Lord, my God,
I will praise you forever.
Chapter 6
The Impossible Profit.[a] 1 There is another evil that I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on the human race. 2 God may grant a man wealth, prosperity, and honor so that he lacks none of the things he desires. However, if God does not enable him to enjoy these gifts but rather allows someone else to revel in their benefits, this is vanity and a grievous ill.
3 A man may father a hundred children and live for many years, but no matter how many his days may be, if he does not have the opportunity to enjoy the good things of life and in the end receives no burial, I maintain that a stillborn child is more fortunate than he.[b]
4 For that child came in vain and departed in darkness, and in darkness will his name be enveloped. 5 Moreover, it has never seen the sun or known anything, yet its state is better than his. 6 It could live a thousand years twice over and experience no enjoyment, yet both will go to the same place.[c]
7 All man’s toil is for the mouth,
yet his appetite is never satisfied.
8 For what advantage does the wise man have
over the fool,
or what advantage do the poor have
in knowing how to conduct themselves in life?
9 What the eye sees is better
than what desire craves.
This also is vanity
and a chase after the wind.
What a Human Being Is: Conclusion to Part I
10 Whatever exists was given its name long ago,
and the nature of man is known,
as well as the fact that he cannot contend
with one who is stronger than he.[d]
11 The more words we speak,
the more our vanity increases,
so what advantage do we gain?
12 For who knows what is good for a man while he lives the few days of his vain life, through which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen here afterward under the sun?
The Exemplars of a Man of God[a]
Chapter 2
Accept Your Share of Sufferings.[b] 1 As for you, my child, take strength from the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you learned from me in the presence of many witnesses you must pass on to trustworthy people who will be capable of teaching others.
3 Together with me, bear your share of sufferings like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 A soldier does not become involved in everyday affairs, for his task is to obey his commanding officer. 5 In a similar vein, no athlete can receive the winner’s crown unless he has competed according to the rules. 6 Again, the farmer who does the hard work should have the first claim on the crops. 7 Think about what I am saying, for the Lord will help you to understand it perfectly.
Remember That Jesus Christ Is Risen.[c] 8 Remember the gospel that I preach: Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, was raised from the dead. 9 It is because of this that I have endured great suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained. 10 Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11 This saying can be trusted:
If we have died with him,
we shall also live with him.
12 If we endure,
we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will also deny us.
13 If we are unfaithful,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
14 A True Servant of the Lord.[d] Remind people of these things, and warn them before God[e] that they must stop arguing over words. This does no good and only causes harm to those who are listening. 15 Make every effort to present yourself before God as one who is worthy of his approval, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, but who imparts the word of truth without any alteration.
16 Avoid idle and worldly chatter, for those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will spread like a plague. Included among these are Hymenaeus[f] and Philetus, 18 who have gone astray from the truth. They claim that the resurrection has already taken place, and they damage the faith of some. 19 However, the foundation that God has sealed[g] remains firm, and it bears this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his own,” and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
20 In every large house, there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay—some for noble purposes and some for ordinary purposes. 21 If someone avoids these things I have mentioned, he will be regarded as a vessel of special value, dedicated and useful for the master of the house, and ready to perform any good work.
22 Turn away from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord[h] with a pure heart. 23 Avoid foolish and stupid speculations, for you are well aware that they only result in quarrels.
24 A servant of the Lord should not engage in quarrels but should be kind to everyone. He should be a good teacher and patient, 25 correcting with gentleness those who oppose him. For God may grant them repentance so that they may come to recognize the truth 26 and regain their senses, enabling them to escape the snare of the devil who had held them captive and subjected them to his will.
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