M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Seven Lamps
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you [a]mount the lamps, the seven lamps will (A)give light in the front of the lampstand.’” 3 Aaron therefore did so; he [b]mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 (B)Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; (C)according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
Cleansing the Levites
5 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and (D)cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them, for their [c]cleansing: sprinkle [d]purifying (E)water on them, and let them [e](F)use a razor over their whole [f]body and (G)wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 8 Then let them take a [g]bull with (H)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second [h]bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9 So (I)you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting. (J)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10 and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel (K)shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall [i]present the Levites before the Lord as a (L)wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may [j]qualify to perform the service of the Lord. 12 Now (M)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and (N)the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and (O)present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are (P)wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself (Q)instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For (R)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 (S)I have given the Levites as [k]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no (T)plague among the sons of Israel by [l]their coming near to the sanctuary.”
20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 (U)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Retirement
23 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: from (V)twenty-five years old and upward [m]they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25 But at the age of fifty years they shall [n]retire from service in the work and not work any more. 26 They may, however, [o]assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, (W)to keep an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.”
Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)spread them abroad.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]cheaply,
And have not [f]profited by their sale.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]my (AG)humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
Mutual Delight in Each Other
6 “[a](A)Where has your beloved gone,
O (B)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”
2 “[b]My beloved has gone down to his (C)garden,
To the (D)beds of balsam,
To (E)pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather (F)lilies.
3 “(G)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who (H)pastures his flock among the lilies.”
4 “[c](I)You are as beautiful as (J)Tirzah, my darling,
As (K)lovely as (L)Jerusalem,
As (M)awesome as [d]an army with banners.
5 “Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
(N)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
6 “(O)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has [e]lost her young.
7 “(P)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 “There are sixty (Q)queens and eighty concubines,
And [f](R)maidens without number;
9 But (S)my dove, my perfect one, is [g]unique:
She is her mother’s [h]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The [i](T)maidens saw her and called her blessed,
The (U)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this that [j]grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full (V)moon,
As pure (W)as the sun,
As (X)awesome as [k]an army with banners?’
11 “I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the blossoms of the valley,
To see whether (Y)the vine had budded
Or the (Z)pomegranates had bloomed.
12 “Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of [l]my noble people.”
The Peril of Falling Away
6 Therefore (A)leaving (B)the [a]elementary teaching about the [b]Christ, let us press on to [c](C)maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from (D)dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of (E)instruction about washings and (F)laying on of hands, and the (G)resurrection of the dead and (H)eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, (I)if God permits. 4 For in the case of those who have once been (J)enlightened and have tasted of (K)the heavenly gift and have been made (L)partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and (M)have tasted the good (N)word of God and the powers of (O)the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is (P)impossible to renew them again to repentance, [d](Q)since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often [e]falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those (R)for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and (S)close [f]to being cursed, and [g]it ends up being burned.
Better Things for You
9 But, (T)beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that [h]accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For (U)God is not unjust so as to forget (V)your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having (W)ministered and in still ministering to the [i]saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence [j]so as to realize the (X)full assurance of (Y)hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but (Z)imitators of those who through (AA)faith and patience (AB)inherit the promises.
13 For (AC)when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He (AD)swore by Himself, 14 saying, “(AE)I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” 15 And so, (AF)having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 (AG)For men swear by [k]one greater than themselves, and with them (AH)an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 [l]In the same way God, desiring even more to show to (AI)the heirs of the promise (AJ)the unchangeableness of His purpose, [m]interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which (AK)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have [n]taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of (AL)the hope set before us. 19 [o]This (AM)hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which (AN)enters [p]within the veil, 20 (AO)where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a (AP)high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
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