M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Regulations for Observing the Passover
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, during the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt. He said, 2 “The people of Israel are to observe the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight,[a] you will observe it at its appointed time. You will observe it according to all its regulations and all its ordinances.”
4 Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover. 5 They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 There were some men, however, who were unclean because of contact with a dead body. So they were not able to observe the Passover on that day. They went before Moses and Aaron on that same day. 7 These men said to him, “We are unclean because of a dead body. Why should we be kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the people of Israel?”
8 So Moses said to them, “Wait and let me hear what the Lord commands concerning you.”
9 The Lord spoke to Moses 10 and told him to tell the Israelites this:
If any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of contact with a dead body or is on a distant journey, he may still observe the Passover to the Lord. 11 Such people are to observe it during the second month, on the fourteenth day, at twilight. They are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it until morning. They are not to break a single one of its bones. They are to observe the Passover according to every regulation for it.
13 But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey yet fails to observe the Passover will be cut off from his people. He will bear his sin because he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time.
14 If an alien dwells among you and desires to observe the Passover to the Lord, he is to do so according to the regulation for the Passover and its ordinance. You are to have one regulation, the same for the alien and for the native of the land.
The Cloud and the Dwelling
15 On the day that the Dwelling was set up, the cloud covered the Dwelling, that is, the Tent of the Testimony. The cloud over the Dwelling looked like fire from evening until morning. 16 It was always like this: The cloud would cover the Dwelling, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud above the tent lifted up, the Israelites would set out. Wherever the cloud settled down, the Israelites would camp at that spot. 18 At the command of the Lord, the Israelites set out, and at the command of the Lord they set up camp. For the entire time that the cloud settled over the Dwelling, they would keep their camp at that place. 19 When the cloud stayed over the Dwelling for many days, the Israelites would keep the Lord’s order and would not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud would be over the Dwelling for only a few days. Then according to the command of the Lord the Israelites would remain camped at that place. Then at the command of the Lord they would set out again. 21 Sometimes the cloud was over the Dwelling only from evening until morning. So when the cloud lifted up in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud lifted up, they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud stayed settled over the Dwelling, the Israelites remained camped at that place and did not set out. But when it lifted up, they set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the Lord’s order, following the command of the Lord given through Moses.
Psalm 45
The Wedding of the Victorious King
Heading
For the choir director. According to “Lilies.”[a]
By the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A love song.
Introduction
1 My heart is bubbling over with a beautiful theme.
I am reciting my works for the King.
My tongue is the pen of a rapid writer.
The Glory of the Royal Groom
2 You are the most beautiful of the sons of Adam.
Grace is poured out on your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Strap your sword on your thigh, you mighty warrior,
in your splendor and your majesty.
4 In your majesty advance successfully.
Ride forward in the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharpened.
Let peoples fall beneath you.
Your arrows are in the heart of the king’s enemies.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy
more than any of your companions.
8 Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume all your garments.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad.
9 Daughters of kings are among your honored attendants.
The royal wife[b] stands at your right hand in gold from Ophir.
The Beauty of the Bride
10 Hear, O daughter, look and listen.
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 because the king desires your beauty.
Because he is your lord, bow down to him.
12 Then the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift.
The richest people will seek your favor.
13 The princess, who waits inside, is all glorious.
Her dress is interwoven with gold.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king.
Virgins who follow her as attendants are brought to you.
15 They are brought with joyful celebration.
They enter the palace of the king.
The Glory of the King’s Children
16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will preserve the memory of your name through all generations.
Therefore peoples will praise you forever and ever.
The Woman[a]
7 Why would you look at the Shulammite.
as at the dance of Mahanaim?[b]
The Friends or The Man
2 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
Your hips are curved like a necklace,
the work of the hands of a craftsman.
3 Your navel is a round mixing bowl.
It never lacks blended wine.
Your belly is a mound of wheat, encircled by lilies.
4 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
5 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bat Rabbim.[c]
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
overlooking Damascus.
6 Your head rises above you like Mount Carmel.
The flowing hair of your head is like purple.
The king is captivated by its curls.
The Man
7 How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
O loved one, daughter of delights![d]
8 Your height is like that of the date palm,
and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
9 I said, “I will climb the date palm.
I will take hold of its bunches of fruit.”
May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,
10a and your mouth like the best wine—
The Woman
10b —flowing to my lover,
gliding smoothly over lips and teeth.[e]
11 I belong to my lover,
and his desire is for me.
12 Come, my lover,
let us go to the fields.
Let us spend the night in the villages.
13 Let us go early to the vineyards.
We will see if the vines have budded,
if their blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give my love to you.
The mandrakes send out their fragrance.
At our door is every delicacy,
new as well as old,
that I have stored up for you, my lover.
A Priest Forever
7 This Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, is the one who met Abraham as he was returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,[a] 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.[b] First, Melchizedek means “king of righteousness,” and then “king of Salem,” which is “king of peace.” 3 He is without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, and resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Consider how great this man was. Even Abraham, the patriarch, gave him a tenth from the best of the spoils. 5 According to the law, those sons of Levi who received the priesthood have a command to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brother Israelites, even though they also came from Abraham’s body. 6 But here the one who was not descended from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. 7 And without any question, it is the lesser who is blessed by the greater.
8 In the one case, those who are mortal collect the tenth; in the other case, the one who collects has testimony in Scripture[c] that he lives. 9 And, through Abraham, even Levi, who collects the tenth, has paid a tenth, so to speak, 10 because he was still in the body of his forefather when Melchizedek met Abraham.
11 So if everything could have been brought to its goal through the Levitical priesthood (for the people received the law on the basis of that priesthood), what further need was there for another priest to arise who was like Melchizedek, yet not said to be like Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, by necessity a change in the law also happens. 13 Yet these things are said about the one who belonged to another tribe, from which no one had served at the altar. 14 It is certainly clear that our Lord is descended from Judah. Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe.
15 And this becomes even clearer if another priest arises like Melchizedek, 16 who became a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement about physical descent, but on the basis of the power of an endless[d] life. 17 For it has been testified in Scripture about him:
You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek.[e]
18 To be sure, the former requirement is annulled, because it was weak and useless— 19 for the law did not bring anything to its goal—but now a better hope is introduced, by which we approach God.
20 And something like this did not happen without an oath. Indeed, others who became priests did so without an oath, 21 but this one became a priest with an oath, through the one who said to him:
The Lord has sworn an oath
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever.”[f]
22 In this way, Jesus has become the guarantor[g] of a better covenant.[h]
23 There were many who became priests because death prevented any of them from continuing to remain in office. 24 But because this one endures forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 So for this reason he is able to save forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to plead on their behalf.
Jesus Is the High Priest We Need
26 This is certainly the kind of high priest we needed: one who is holy, innocent, pure, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices on a daily basis, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. In fact, he sacrificed for sins once and for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses. But the word of the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been brought to his goal forever.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.