M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Nazirite Vow
6 The Lord told Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them these things:
2 When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite,[a] to separate oneself to the Lord, 3 he is to abstain from wine and beer.[b] He may not drink vinegar made from wine or beer. He may not drink any grape juice. He may not eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 During his entire separation, he is not to eat anything at all that comes from the grapevine, from the seeds to the skins.
5 During his entire vow of separation no razor is to pass over his head, until the time that he has separated himself to the Lord has been completed. He will be set apart as holy. He is to let the hair of his head grow long.
6 During the entire time that he separates himself to the Lord he may not go near a dead body. 7 He may not defile himself even for his father or his mother or for his brother or his sister when they die, because his sign of separation for God is on his head. 8 During the entire time of his separation he is set apart as holy to the Lord.
9 If someone near him dies suddenly, thereby defiling the head of hair that marks his separation, he is to shave his head on the day when he is purified. On the seventh day he is to shave it. 10 On the eighth day he will bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 11 The priest will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. He will make atonement for him, because he sinned on account of the dead body. On that same day, he is to consecrate his head. 12 He will establish a new time of separation to the Lord. He will bring a year-old male lamb as a restitution offering. His previous time of separation will not count, because his separation was defiled.
13 This is the law for the Nazirite when the time of his separation is over: He is to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 14 He will bring this as his offering to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect as a whole burnt offering, a year-old female lamb without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a fellowship offering,[c] 15 a basket of unleavened round loaves made with fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers coated with oil, along with the specified grain offerings and drink offerings. 16 The priest will bring them before the Lord and will offer the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. 17 The priest will offer the ram as the sacrifice for the fellowship offering to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest will also offer the specified grain offering and drink offering.
18 The Nazirite is to shave the hair on his head, that marks his separation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to take the hair from his head, that marks his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice for the fellowship offering. 19 The priest will take the boiled shoulder from the ram and one unleavened round loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the palms of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head that marks his separation. 20 The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. This is the holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is elevated.[d] After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the law for the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford. Just as he has made this vow, so he must carry it out according to the law governing his separation.
The Benediction
22 The Lord told Moses 23 to speak to Aaron and to his sons and to tell them to bless the Israelites with these words:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you.
25 The Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
26 The Lord look on you with favor[e]
and give you peace.
27 In this way they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Psalm 40
I Desire to Do Your Will
(Psalm 40:13-17 parallels Psalm 70)
Heading
For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
Messiah’s Prayer of Thanks
1 I waited and waited for the Lord.
Then he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 Then he pulled me up from the deadly quicksand,
from the mud and muck.
He made my feet stand on a rock to keep my steps from slipping.
3 Then he put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear.
They will trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is everyone who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud
or to those who turn aside to falsehood.
5 Many are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God.
No one can explain to you all your thoughts for us.[a]
If I try to speak and tell about them,
they are too many to count.
Messiah’s Willing Sacrifice
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.
Ears you have opened for me.[b]
You did not ask for burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come.
The book written on a scroll tells about me.
8 My God, I take pleasure in doing your will.
Your law[c] is in my heart.”
Messiah’s Preaching of Good News
9 I preach righteousness in the great assembly.
Indeed, I do not hold back my lips, O Lord, as you know.
10 I do not conceal your righteousness deep in my heart.
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not hide your mercy and your truth from the great assembly.
Messiah’s Prayer in Distress
11 Lord, you do not hold back your compassion from me.
Let your mercy and your truth always protect me,
12 although troubles without number surround me.
Punishments for my guilt have smothered me, so I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head, so my courage deserts me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to save me.
Lord, hurry to help me.
14 Let all who seek to end my life be frustrated and completely confused.[d]
Let everyone who desires my ruin be turned back and disgraced.
15 Let those who say to me, “Aha! We got you!” be dismayed,
because they have been put to shame.
16 But let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation always say,
“The Lord is great!”
17 Yet I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 41
Even My Friend
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David.
David’s Confidence of Delivery
1 How blessed is the person who understands the plight of the weak!
May the Lord deliver him in the day of trouble.
2 May the Lord guard him and keep him alive.
May he be blessed in the land.
May you not surrender him to the desire of his enemies.
3 May the Lord sustain him on his sickbed.
You raise him up from his bed.
4 I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.”
The Treachery of the Conspirators
5 My enemies speak evil about me:
“When will he die and his name perish?”
6 If one comes to see me, he speaks falsely.
In his heart he collects malicious plans.
He goes out. He speaks about them in the street.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me.
They plan evil for me. They say,
8 “A deadly affliction is poured out on him.
He will never get up from the place where he lies.”
9 Even a man who was at peace with me,
a man whom I trusted, who ate my bread,
has raised up his heel to step on me.
Closing Prayer
10 But you, Lord, have mercy on me.
Raise me up, so that I can repay them.
11 From this I know that you are pleased with me:
My enemy does not triumph over me.
12 As for me—in my integrity you uphold me,
and you set me up in your presence forever.
Closing Doxology
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from eternity to eternity.
Amen and Amen.
Beautiful From Top to Bottom
The Man
4 Look at you. You are beautiful, my darling!
Look at you. You are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
which flows down from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock,
ready to be sheared,
which comes up from the washing.
Each is a twin. Not one of them is left by itself.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon.
Your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Like the tower of David,
your neck is adorned with rows of stones.[a]
A thousand shields hang on it,
all of them the equipment of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle, that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh,
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling.
There is no flaw in you.
Spices and Wine, Milk and Honey
The Man
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride.
With me from Lebanon, come.
Descend from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
from the lions’ dens,
and from the mountains of the leopards.
9 You have stirred my heart, my sister, my bride.
You have stirred my heart
with one, just one of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful it is to experience your love,
my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
11 Your lips drip like a honeycomb, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride.
You are an enclosed spring,[b] a sealed fountain.
13 Your plants are an orchard,
pomegranates with other choice fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of water flowing and streaming down from Lebanon.
Come Into Your Garden
The Woman
16 Arise, north wind! Come, south wind!
Blow on my garden, so that its spices spread abroad.
Let my lover come into his garden,
and eat its choice fruits.
Some Will Enter God’s Rest
4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be fearful that any one of you may be judged to have failed to reach it. 2 In fact, we have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who did listen. 3 Indeed, we who believe are going to enter his rest.
It happened just as he vowed when he said:
So I swore an oath in my wrath,
“They will never enter my rest.”[a]
And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way:
And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.[b]
5 And again in this statement:
They will never enter my rest.[c]
6 Therefore, since it is still the case that some do enter this rest, and yet those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not enter because of disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, namely, “today,” when he later said through David, as quoted before:
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.[d]
8 For, if Joshua had given them rest, then God would not have spoken later about another day.
9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God rested from his work. 11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from him, but everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we will give an account.
Jesus Is Our High Priest
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. 16 So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.