M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Votive Offerings and Dedicated Things
27 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say this to them.”
When a person makes a special vow to the Lord which is based on the value of different classes of people, 3 the set value of a male from twenty years to sixty years of age is fifty shekels of silver, using the sanctuary shekel as the standard. 4 If it is a female, the value is thirty shekels. 5 If the age is from five years to twenty years, the value is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. 6 If the age is from one month to five years, the value for the male is five shekels of silver, while the value for the female is three shekels of silver. 7 If the age is sixty years or over, the value is fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. 8 But if anyone making a dedication is too poor to pay that standard value, he shall appear before the priest with the dedicated person, and the priest shall assess a substitute valuation for the person. The priest shall assess a value on the basis of what the person who has made the vow can afford.
9 If what is vowed is livestock which is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, anything that a person dedicates to the Lord is set apart as holy. 10 He may not exchange it or substitute another for it, either good for bad, or bad for good. If he substitutes one animal for another, both the animal and its substitute are set aside as holy. 11 If what has been vowed is any kind of unclean livestock, which may not be presented as an offering to the Lord, he shall present the animal before the priest 12 so that the priest may assess it. Whatever value is set by the priest, whether high or low, will be binding. 13 But if he does indeed redeem it, he must add one-fifth to its value.
14 When a person dedicates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest shall assess it. Whatever value the priest assesses, whether high or low, will be binding. 15 But if the person who has dedicated his house redeems it, he must add one-fifth to its value in silver, so that it belongs to him again.
16 If a person dedicates any field from his family property to the Lord, its value shall be based on how much seed is needed to sow it. Land sown by six bushels[a] of barley seed is worth fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field during the year of Jubilee, its value stands as stated, 18 but if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, the priest shall recalculate its value in silver based on the number of years that are left until the next year of Jubilee, and that much will be deducted from the value. 19 If the person who dedicated the field redeems it, he must add one-fifth to its value in silver, so that it may be returned to him. 20 But if he does not redeem the field but has sold the field to another person, it may no longer be redeemed. 21 When the field is released on the Jubilee, it will be set aside as holy. It belongs to the Lord as a dedicated field. It belongs to the priest as his holding.
22 If someone dedicates to the Lord a field he has purchased that is not part of his family landholding, 23 the priest shall calculate the amount of value until the year of Jubilee, so that he may pay the value on that day as something holy to the Lord. 24 In the year of Jubilee, the field shall return to the person from whom the donor bought it, to the one to whom the landholding originally belonged. 25 Every value shall be based on the sanctuary shekel, which has twenty gerahs to the shekel.[b]
26 However, no one may dedicate a firstborn from the livestock that has already been designated for the Lord as a firstborn, whether it is a head of cattle or a sheep or a goat. It already belongs to the Lord. 27 But if it is one of the unclean livestock, he may buy it back at its set value plus one-fifth. If it is not redeemed, it may be sold at its set value.
28 However, if anyone devotes anything that belongs to him to the Lord unconditionally, whether it is a human being or livestock or any part of his landholding, it may not be sold and may not be redeemed. Everything devoted unconditionally is most holy to the Lord.
29 Any person who has been devoted to destruction may not be ransomed. He must certainly be put to death.
30 But every tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. 31 If anyone redeems any of his tithe, he must add one-fifth to it. 32 The tithe from the herd or the flock, that is, every tenth animal that passes under the staff of the shepherd, shall be set apart as holy to the Lord. 33 The donor must not sort out the good from the bad, and he must not make any substitutions for it. If he makes a substitution for it, then both the first animal and its substitute shall be set apart as holy. It cannot be redeemed.
34 These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel at Mount Sinai.
Psalm 34
Blessed Is the Person Who Takes Refuge in God
Heading
By David. When he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelek, who drove him away, and David left.[a]
David’s Thanks for Deliverance
1 I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 In the Lord my soul will boast.
The humble will hear and rejoice.
An Invitation to Join David in Praise
3 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
The Story of David’s Deliverance
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me.
From all my terrors he delivered me.
5 His people look to him and are radiant,
and their faces will never blush.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard.
From all his distress the Lord saved him.
7 The Angel of the Lord[b] camps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
The Application of This Truth to All Believers
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his saints,
since those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions may lack food and be hungry,
but those who seek the Lord do not lack any good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who wants to find pleasure in life?
Who would love to experience many good days?
13 Guard your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord watch over the righteous.
His ears listen to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil,
to cut off memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears.
From all their distress he delivers them.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
20 He watches over all his bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked.
Those who hate the righteous will be found guilty.
22 The Lord redeems the soul[c] of his servants.
Anyone who takes refuge in him will not be found guilty.
10 Dead flies make perfumed oil ferment and stink, just as a little stupidity outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 A wise man’s heart heads right, but a fool’s heart heads left.
3 Even when a fool is walking down the road, he does not know where he is going, and he advertises to everyone that he is a fool.
4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not abandon your post, because keeping calm puts serious sins to rest.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun. What a mistake rulers make! 6 Stupidity is placed in many high places, but the rich are seated in low positions. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, while princes walk on the ground like slaves.
8 A person who digs a pit might fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall might be bitten by a snake.
9 A person who quarries stones may be hurt by them. Someone who splits logs may be endangered by them.
10 If the ax is dull and no one sharpens its edge, the person chopping must apply more strength, but an advantage of wisdom is that it gives success.
11 If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to having a charmer.[a]
12 Words from a wise man’s mouth bring favor, but a fool’s lips swallow him up.
13 The fool starts out by saying stupid things, but he ends up speaking wicked madness. 14 The fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will be in the future, and who can tell him what will come after him?
15 The hard work of fools wears them out so much that they no longer know their way to town.[b]
16 How unfortunate you are, O land, when your king once was a servant,[c] and your officials overeat in the morning. 17 How blessed you are, O land, when your king is a son of nobles, and your officials eat at the right time—to get stronger, not to get drunk.
18 Because of laziness, roof beams sag. Because of idle hands, the house leaks.
19 Food is made for pleasure. Wine makes life happy, but money is the answer for everything.
20 Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person in your bedroom, for a bird in the skies might carry your voice, or a bird in flight might reveal the matter.
Encourage With Sound Doctrine
2 But as for you, speak what is appropriate for sound doctrine. 2 Encourage older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and patient endurance.
3 Likewise, encourage older women to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, but teachers of what is good, 4 so that they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, busy at home, kind, and submitting to their own husbands, that the word of God might not be slandered.
6 Likewise, encourage younger men to be self-controlled. 7 In all things show yourself to be an example of good works. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that the one who opposes us will be put to shame, because he has nothing bad to say about us.
9 Encourage slaves to submit to their masters in everything, to be pleasing to them, not to be argumentative with them, 10 not to steal from them, but to demonstrate their complete trustworthiness, so that they may show the teaching of God our Savior to be attractive in every way.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope, that is, the glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are his own chosen people, eager to do good works.
15 Keep telling people these things. Continue to encourage and rebuke with full authority. Let no one ignore you.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.