M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Aaron’s Staff Is Chosen
17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and collect staffs from them, one from each father’s house, from all their tribal chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs in all. Write each man’s name on his staff. 3 Write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there will be one staff for each head of their fathers’ houses. 4 You are to place them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 The staff of the man whom I will choose will sprout. I will rid myself of the Israelites’ constant grumbling against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each one of their tribal chiefs gave him a staff, one staff for each tribal chief according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs in all. Aaron’s staff was among their staffs. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.
8 On the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony and discovered that Aaron’s staff representing the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked, and each man took his staff.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebellious.[a] In this way you will put an end to their grumblings against me, so that they do not die.” 11 That is what Moses did. He did just as the Lord commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost! We are all lost! 13 Everyone who approaches the Lord’s Dwelling dies! Must we all perish?”
Duties of the Priests and Levites
18 The Lord gave these directions to Aaron:
You, your sons, and your father’s house with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with your priesthood. 2 Also have your brothers from the tribe of Levi, your father’s tribe, come forward with you so that they may join you and assist you when you and your sons along with you are on duty in front of the Tent of the Testimony. 3 They will perform the duties for you and for the entire tent. However, they are not to go close to the furnishings in the sanctuary or to the altar, so that they and you will not die. 4 They are to join you and perform the duties for the Tent of Meeting, to do all the work at the tent. No unauthorized person is to go near you.
5 You are to perform the duties for the sanctuary and for the altar so that there will not be any more wrath on the Israelites. 6 See, I myself have taken your brothers, the Levites, from among the Israelites. They are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you will keep watch over your priesthood in connection with everything at the altar and inside the veil. You are to do this work. I am giving you your priesthood as a gift. Any unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.
Offerings to Support the Priests and Levites
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron. This is what he said:
See, I myself have put you in charge of the elevated offerings made to me. All of the holy things from the Israelites I have given to you as an allotment and to your sons as a permanent right. 9 Part of the most holy things that are not burned in the fire will be yours. Every one of their offerings which they give to me—every one of their grain offerings, every one of their sin offerings, and every one of their restitution offerings—will be most holy for you and your sons. 10 You will eat it as a most holy thing. Every male may eat of it. It will be holy for you.
11 This is yours too: the elevated offerings from their gifts, including all the wave offerings[b] from the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent right. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your house may eat it.
12 All the best oil, all the best wine and grain, the Israelites’ firstfruits which they give to the Lord, I have given them all to you. 13 The first ripe produce from everything that is in their land, all that they bring to the Lord, will be yours. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your house may eat it.
14 Everything permanently devoted by the Israelites will be yours. 15 The firstborn from every living thing, human or animal, whatever they present to the Lord, will be yours. However, you must redeem the firstborn of any human. You must also redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal. 16 When they are one month old, you must redeem them at the set redemption price, five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.
17 However, you may not redeem the firstborn of the cattle, sheep, or goats. They are set aside as holy. You will splash their blood on the altar and turn their fat into smoke as an offering made by fire, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 Their meat will be yours. It will be yours just like the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh. 19 All the elevated offerings of holy things, which the Israelites lift up to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. It is a permanent covenant of salt[c] before the Lord for you and your descendants with you.
20 The Lord also said these things to Aaron:
You will not have any allotment of land among them in the land, and you will not have any share among them. I am your share and your possession among the people of Israel.
21 See, I have given all the tithes in Israel to the Levites as a possession in return for their work which they are doing, the work at the Tent of Meeting. 22 The Israelites will never again come near the Tent of Meeting. If they do, they will become responsible for sin and die. 23 But the Levites are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting, and they will bear their guilt. It will be a permanent regulation throughout your generations to come: They will not have any possession among the Israelites. 24 For the tithe from the Israelites, which they lift up as an elevated offering for the Lord, I have given to the Levites as a possession. Therefore I have said to them, “They will not have any possession among the Israelites.”
25 The Lord told Moses 26 to speak to the Levites and tell them this:
When you receive from the Israelites the tithe, which I have given to you as your possession, you will lift up an elevated offering from it for the Lord, a tenth of the tithe. 27 Your elevated offering will be credited to you, as if it were grain from the threshing floor and abundance from the winepress. 28 In this way you also are to lift up an elevated offering for the Lord from every one of the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. From the tithes, you will give the elevated offering for the Lord to Aaron the priest. 29 You will lift up every elevated offering for the Lord from the things given to you, from all the best, the holiest part of it.
30 Tell the Levites this:
When you lift up the best part of the offering, it will be credited to the Levites as if it were produce from the threshing floor and the winepress. 31 You may eat it anywhere, with your household, for it is your wages in return for your work at the Tent of Meeting. 32 You will not become responsible for sin in regard to it when you lift up the best part of it. You will not defile the holy things from the Israelites, and you will not die.
Psalm 55
My Friend Betrays Me
Heading
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A maskil by David.
Opening Plea
1 Turn your ear to my prayer, O God.
Do not hide from my plea for mercy.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
The Problem
I am troubled in my thoughts and I groan
3 because of talk from the enemy,
because of oppression from the wicked,
because they dump evil on me,
and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me.
The terrors of death fall on me.
5 Fear and trembling come over me.
Horror covers me.
6 So I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find a place to rest.
7 Yes, I would flee far away. Interlude
I would stay in the wilderness.
8 I would hurry to find shelter,
far from the violent wind, far from the storm.”
9 Swallow them up, O Lord.
Confuse their speech,
for I see violence and contention in the city.
10 Day and night they sneak around on its walls.
Evil and trouble are in the city.
11 Destruction lurks within it.
Treachery and deceit never leave its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who insults me—
I could bear that.
It is not someone who hated me who rises up against me—
I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man who served with me,
my colleague and my associate,
14 with whom I shared pleasant discussions
as we walked with the excited crowd at God’s house.
Plea for Judgment
15 Let deadly destruction come on them.
Let them go down to the grave alive,
because evil is at home in their hearts.
Confidence in Judgment
16 As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning, and noon I cry out and I sigh,
and he hears my voice.
18 In peace he redeems my life from the assault against me,
even when many are against me.
19 God will hear, and he will punish them— Interlude
yes, he is seated on his throne from eternity!
—because they never change, and they do not fear God.
The Traitor’s Treachery
20 The traitor reaches out his hand against those at peace with him.
He breaks his agreement.[a]
21 His flattery is as smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart.
His words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn daggers.
God’s Solution
22 Place your burden on the Lord,
and he will support you.
He will never allow the righteous to fall.
23 But you, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.
Bloody and deceitful men will not live half their days.
But as for me, I will trust in you.
Immanuel Is the Answer to Judah’s Hardness
7 This took place in the days when Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah. Rezin king of Aram,[a] and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, marched up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not capture it.
2 The house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim.” The heart of Ahaz trembled, and the heart of his people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah:
Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear Jashub.[b] Meet him at the end of the water channel from the upper pool, on the road that goes to the launderers[c] field.
4 Tell Ahaz, “Get control of yourself, and remain calm. Do not be afraid. Do not lose your courage because of these two stubs of smoldering torches. Do not be afraid because of the fierce anger of Rezin, Aram, and the son of Remaliah, 5 even though Aram, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you and said, 6 ‘Let’s go up against Judah and tear it apart. Let’s divide it among ourselves and set up a king over it, namely, this son of Tabe’el.’”
7 This is what the Lord God says.
Their plan shall not succeed.
It shall not take place.
8 Yes, the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin,
but within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken into pieces,
so that it will no longer be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is only Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in faith,
you will not stand at all.[d]
10 The Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, 11 “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.”
12 But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”
13 So Isaiah said:
Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men? Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you.[e] Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.[f] 15 He will eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse evil and choose good, 16 because even before the child knows how to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.
17 The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days worse than any since the day that Ephraim broke away from Judah. The Lord will bring the king of Assyria.
18 This is what will take place in that day: The Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the farthest end of Egypt’s rivers and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 They will come and settle in the deep ravines, in the clefts in the rocks, among all the thorn hedges, and in all the pastures.[g]
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor hired from the regions beyond the River Euphrates, namely, the king of Assyria. This razor will shave their head and the hair on their legs, and it will also scrape away their beard.
21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundant milk they give, he will eat curds. So everyone left in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 In that day, in every place where a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels were growing, there will be only briers and thorns. 24 Hunters will go there with a bow and arrow, because all that land will be briers and thorns. 25 You will no longer venture into all the hills that once were cultivated with the hoe, because you will be afraid of the briers and thorns, and the hills will be a pasture for grazing oxen, a land trampled by sheep.
Greeting
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are scattered[a] abroad:
Greetings.
Patient Endurance, Wisdom, Prayer, and Faith
2 Consider it complete joy, my brothers,[b] whenever you fall into various kinds of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces patient endurance. 4 And let patient endurance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives it to all without reservation and without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without doubting, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 In fact, that person should not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Rich and Poor
9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his high position, 10 and the rich one in his humble position, because he will pass away like a flower of the grass. 11 Indeed, the sun rises with burning heat and dries up the grass. Its blossom falls off, and its beauty perishes. In the same way also, the rich person will wither away in his busy pursuits.
Temptation
12 Blessed is the man who endures a trial patiently, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God[c] promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.
Receive and Do What God’s Word Says
16 Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow.[d] 18 Just as he planned, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creations.
19 Remember this,[e] my dear brothers: Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. 20 Certainly, a man’s anger does not bring about what is right before God. 21 So after getting rid of all moral filthiness and overflowing wickedness, receive with humility the word planted in you. It is able to save your souls.
22 Be people who do what the word says, not people who only hear it. Such people are deceiving themselves. 23 In fact, if anyone hears the word and does not do what it says, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own natural face in a mirror. 24 Indeed, he carefully looks at himself; then, he goes away and immediately forgets what he looked like. 25 But the one who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues to do so—since he does not hear and forget but actually does what it says—that person will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone considers himself to be religious but deceives his own heart because he does not bridle his tongue, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.