M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
In our world, these rules are hard to understand. But remember, it has only been in recent years that Western society has shown concern for people with disabilities. In much of the world today, people who suffer deformities or disabilities are treated differently—as somehow imperfect. Less than a century ago, “little people” and other “freaks of nature” were in circuses for the amusement of the rest of us. So we must be careful not to judge people who lived 3,000 years ago by our modern standards and sensibilities. That would not be fair. The logic is clear: just as the sacrifice must be pure and unblemished, so must the priest who offers the sacrifice be whole in body. Disabled priests are mercifully included in God’s provision because they are permitted to eat the consecrated bread.
22 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 2 Instruct Aaron and his sons to be cautious with the sacred food offerings the Israelites bring—the ones they give in My honor so that they do not desecrate My sacred name and ruin My reputation. I am the Eternal One. 3 Tell them that anyone from your present and future generations who is ritually impure and goes near the sacred gifts the Israelites have presented to Me will be cut off from My presence, for I am the Eternal One. 4 None of Aaron’s offspring who has a serious skin disease or a discharge is allowed to consume the sacred food offerings until he is ritually pure again. If anyone touches something that has become impure by having contact with a dead body or if he has a semen emission, 5 or if he touches some small creature or anyone impure, whatever the impurity may be— 6 anyone who has contact with such impurity will be impure until evening; he is not allowed to consume the sacred gifts until he has bathed in water. 7 When evening arrives, it is a new day; he will be ritually pure. Then he can consume the sacred food offerings, which are his food. 8 He should not consume any animal that dies a natural death or is torn apart by another animal; if he does, he will become impure, for I am the Eternal One. 9 The priests are to respect and keep My instructions or they will have to bear the punishment for their sin and die for treating my instructions with contempt, for I am the Eternal One who makes them holy.
10 No laypeople, guests, or hired workers who enter a priest’s house are allowed to consume the sacred food offerings. 11 But if a priest purchases a slave, then that slave and anyone born into his family can eat his food. 12 When a priest’s daughter marries a non-priest, she is no longer allowed to eat any of the sacred food offerings. 13 But if she—after being childless, and divorced or widowed—goes back to live with her father as she did when she was young, then she is allowed to consume her father’s food; but no lay person is allowed to consume it. 14 If a man consumes a sacred food offering accidentally, then when he becomes aware, he must present the same amount of food plus ⅕ to the priest. 15 When the people of Israel present their sacred offerings to Me, the priests are not to treat them lightly, 16 or else they will bear the guilt and punishment for consuming the sacred gifts; for I am the Eternal One who makes them holy.
17 The Eternal One spoke to Moses regarding animals acceptable for sacrifice.
Eternal One: 18 Go, talk with Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites. Tell them that when any Israelite or outsider living among you brings an offering—whether accompanying a vow or out of free will—and offers it to Me as a burnt offering, 19 he must offer an unblemished male from the bulls, the sheep, or the goats in order to be accepted. 20 You should not offer any animals that are diseased, weak, or injured or have any defects. Such a sacrifice is not acceptable for you. 21 Also when a man offers a sacrifice as a peace offering to Me from the herd or flock—whether he is fulfilling a vow or out of free will—he must offer a perfect, unblemished offering in order to be accepted. 22 Do not offer any animals that are blind, have broken bones, are deformed, have open wounds, a skin disease, or scabs. Do not offer such a sacrifice by fire on the altar to Me. 23 You are allowed to offer an ox or a lamb with a limb that is too long or too short as long as it is a freewill offering, but not if it is an offering that accompanies a vow. 24 You are not to offer any animal with bruised, crushed, torn, or removed testicles as a sacrifice to Me, and you will not offer these blemished animals anywhere in your land. 25 You are not allowed to accept such an animal as a gift from a foreigner and then offer it as food for your God, because the animal is not whole and carries the foreigner’s corruption. Such a sacrifice is not acceptable for you.
26 The Eternal One continued speaking to Moses.
Eternal One: 27 Any time an ox or sheep or goat is born, you are to leave it with its mother for seven days. On the eighth day, the newborn is old enough to be sacrificed to Me as a fire-offering. 28 But do not sacrifice both the newborn ox or sheep and its mother on the same day.
That which gives life, whether human or animal mother, and that which is offered on behalf of life, whether human or animal offspring, should not be disrespected, blurred, or confused.
29 When you slaughter a thanksgiving sacrifice to Me, do it in such a way that you will be accepted. 30 Consume it on the same day it is slaughtered; do not leave any for the next day. I am the Eternal One.
31 This is how you must keep and follow My commands. I am the Eternal One.
32 You must not do anything that desecrates My sacred name and ruins My reputation so that the people of Israel will acknowledge that I am holy, for I am the Eternal One who consecrates you. 33 I am the One who led you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Eternal One.
Psalm 28
A song of David.
1 Eternal One, I am calling out to You;
You are the foundation of my life. Please, don’t turn Your ear from me.
If You respond to my pleas with silence,
I will lose all hope like those silenced by death’s grave.
2 Listen to my voice.
You will hear me begging for Your help
With my hands lifted up in prayer,
my body turned toward Your holy home.
This Davidic psalm pleads with God to spare him and repay his enemies. It would be difficult to locate this psalm in any one event. During his life David faced many threats from different enemies; not only were these threats from outside his realm, but some of his most difficult challenges came from inside his own family.
3 I beg You; don’t punish me with the most heinous men.
They spend their days doing evil.
Even when they engage their neighbors in pleasantness,
they are scheming against them.
4 Pay them back for their deeds;
hold them accountable for their malice.
Give them what they deserve.
5 Because these are people who have no respect for You, O Eternal,
they ignore everything You have done.
So He will tear them down with His powerful hands;
never will they be built again.
6 The Eternal should be honored and revered;
He has heard my cries for help.
7 The Eternal is the source of my strength and the shield that guards me.
When I learn to rest and truly trust Him,
He sends His help. This is why my heart is singing!
I open my mouth to praise Him, and thankfulness rises as song.
8 The Eternal gives life and power to all His chosen ones;
to His anointed He is a sturdy fortress.
9 Rescue Your people, and bring prosperity to Your legacy;
may they know You as a shepherd, carrying them at all times.
Psalm 29
A song of David.
1 Give all credit to the Eternal, O heavenly creatures;
give praise to Him for His glory and power.
2 Give to the Eternal the glory due His name;
worship Him with lavish displays of sacred splendor.
3 The voice of the Eternal echoes over the great waters;
God’s magnificence roars like thunder.
The Eternal’s presence hovers over all the waters.
4 His voice explodes in great power over the earth.
His voice is both regal and grand.
5 The Eternal’s voice shatters the cedars;
His power splinters the great cedars of Lebanon.
6 He speaks, and Lebanon leaps like a young calf;
Sirion jumps like a wild, youthful ox.
7 The voice of the Eternal cuts through with flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Eternal rumbles through the wilderness
with great quakes;
He causes Kadesh to tremble.
9 The Eternal’s voice brings life from the doe’s womb;
His voice strips the forest bare,
and all the people in the temple declare, “Glory!”
10 The Eternal is enthroned over the great flood;
His reign is unending.
11 We ask You, Eternal One, to give strength to Your people;
Eternal One, bless them with the gift of peace.
How often people have arisen from relative obscurity to lead great movements in society! The Bible itself is full of such stories: Joseph goes from slave to prisoner to vizier of Egypt; David goes from shepherd to king of Israel; Esther goes from foreign exile to queen of Persia; Peter goes from fisherman to church founder. Their stories inspire others, but later generations remember only anecdotes and forget the passion and character that move leaders from obscurity to leadership in the first place. Life is fleeting. Victories do not last. In this imperfect interim world, greatness is only provisional.
5 Teacher: Watch your step when you enter the house of God. Be ready to listen quietly rather than rushing in to offer up a sacrifice to foolish people, for they have no idea that what they do is evil.
God knows what is on the inside. Words and actions are not always necessary.
2 Do not be too hasty to speak your mind before God or too quick to make promises you won’t keep, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, watch your tongue; let your words be few. 3 For just as busyness breeds restless dreams, so wordiness reveals the voice of a fool.
4 If you make a promise to God, do not be slow to keep it; for He takes no pleasure in fools. So do what you have promised. 5 In fact, it would be better not to make a vow in the first place than to make it and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you to sin, and do not claim before the temple messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry at the sound of your voice and destroy everything you’ve worked hard to achieve? 7 Daydreaming and excessive talking are pointless and fleeting things to do, like trying to catch hold of a breath. What good comes from them? It is better to quietly reverence God.
8 If you see the poor oppressed, justice denied, and righteousness rejected in a particular place, then do not be surprised at this; for those in power are watched over by those higher up, and they in turn by some even higher. 9 Still, it is better for the land in every way to have a king who cultivates the fields.[a]
Corruption often starts at the top and works its way down.
10 As the saying goes:
Those who love money will never be satisfied with money,
and those who love riches will never be happy with what they have.
This, too, is fleeting. 11 The more goods there are, the more people there are to consume them. How does any of this really benefit the owners except they can gaze proudly on their possessions? 12 Sweet sleep comes to those who work hard, regardless of how much or how little they’ve eaten. But the abundance of the rich keeps them awake at night.
There is nothing like the sense of gratification that comes from working hard all day, when bread and cheese taste as good as the finest steak. The ability to work, strength to work, and desire for work are all gifts from God. When we understand that and use those gifts accordingly, simple things like sleep and a good meal are causes for joy and celebration. But those who are rich and idle can’t buy a good night’s sleep or a stress-free meal or a moment’s peace.
Teacher: 13 I have witnessed a grave evil pervading our world, one that has been with us since the first sunrise: harm comes to all who hoard their riches. 14 Such riches can easily vanish through some misfortune, so that the rich have nothing left to pass along to their children. 15 We all came naked from our mother’s womb, and we will leave this world as we came, taking nothing of the wealth for which we have toiled. 16 Here, too, is another grave evil: all of us, no matter who we are, will depart this world exactly the same way as we came into it. So what good does it do to continue to toil after the wind? 17 So all our days we eat in darkness, with mounting frustration, suffering, and anger.
18 Then it dawned on me that this is good and proper: to eat and drink and find the good in all the toil that we undertake under the sun during the few days God has given, for this is our lot in life. 19 Also, God gives wealth, possessions, and power to enjoy those things, and He allows them to accept their lot in life and to enjoy hard work. This is God’s gift. 20 For people like this have no time to despair over life because God keeps them so busy with a deep-seated joy.
1 Paul, an emissary[a] of Jesus the Anointed commissioned by God’s will according to the promise of life found only in Jesus the Anointed, 2 to you, my dear child Timothy.
May grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus the Anointed be yours.
3-4 Timothy, you are constantly in my prayers. Day and night I remember you before God and give thanks to Him whom I serve with a clean conscience, as did my ancestors. I really want to see you, especially when I remember how you cried the last time we were together. Yes, I know it would make me joyful to see you again. 5 What strikes me most is how natural and sincere your faith is. I am convinced that the same faith that dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, abides in you as well. 6 This is why I write to remind you to stir up the gift of God that was conveyed to you when I laid my hands upon you. 7 You see, God did not give us a cowardly spirit but a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit.
God’s gift of faith is like a flame, and when the embers of the fire have cooled you must fan them again and keep them ablaze.
8 So don’t be embarrassed to testify about our Lord or for me, His prisoner. Join us in suffering for the good news by the strength and power of God. 9 God has already saved us and called us to this holy calling—not because of any good works we may have done, but because of His own intention and because eons and eons ago (before time itself existed), He gave us this grace in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King. 10 And now, the time has come! That grace was revealed when our Savior, Jesus the Anointed, appeared; and through His resurrection He has wiped out death and brought to light life and immortality by way of this good news. 11 I was appointed a preacher, emissary,[b] and teacher of this message. 12 This is exactly why I am suffering. But I am not ashamed because I know Him and I have put my trust in Him. And I am fully certain that He has the ability to protect what I have placed in His care until that day.
13 Remember the words that you heard from me. Retain them as the model for healthy and sound teaching in the faith and love that are available in Jesus the Anointed. 14 As for the precious thing entrusted to you, protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Paul singles out several individuals in this letter, some for praise, others for harsh criticism. Timothy is an example of one who stayed true to Jesus and His emissary, the imprisoned Paul. Later Paul mentions Hymenaeus and Philetus as victims of a cancer within the church who have turned from the truth. Demas, too, is drawn into the attractions of the world, while Alexander the coppersmith opposes their message. With so many who have abandoned and opposed Paul, it’s refreshing to hear of Onesiphorus, who—against all odds—has stayed true to Paul and often visits him in prison to keep up his spirits. Clearly the message is that many may fall away, but a few will continue to be strong for the Lord.
15 You may know by now that all those in Asia have turned their backs on me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16-17 But Onesiphorus was not ashamed of my chains. So when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me and found me. May the Lord show mercy to his house because he has often stopped by to refresh my weary soul. 18 And may the Lord shower him with divine mercy on the last day. You are well aware of all he did to serve me in Ephesus.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.