M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Appointing the Priests
29 “This is what you must do to appoint Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two male sheep that have nothing wrong with them. 2 Use fine wheat flour without yeast to make bread, cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers brushed with olive oil. 3 Put these in one basket, and bring them along with the bull and two male sheep. 4 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent and wash them with water. 5 Take the clothes and dress Aaron in the inner robe and the outer robe of the holy vest. Then put on him the holy vest and the chest covering, and tie the holy vest on him with its skillfully woven belt. 6 Put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 Take the special olive oil and pour it on his head to make him a priest.
8 “Then bring his sons and put the inner robes on them. 9 Put the headbands on their heads, and tie cloth belts around their waists. Aaron and his descendants will be priests in Israel, according to a rule that will continue from now on. This is how you will appoint Aaron and his sons as priests.
10 “Bring the bull to the front of the Meeting Tent, and Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull’s head. 11 Then kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 12 Use your finger to put some of the bull’s blood on the corners of the altar, and then pour the blood that is left at the bottom of the altar. 13 Take all the fat that covers the inner organs, as well as the best part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them, and burn them on the altar. 14 Take the bull’s meat, skin, and intestines, and burn them outside the camp. This is an offering to take away sin.
15 “Take one of the male sheep, and have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. 16 Kill it, and take its blood and sprinkle it on all four sides of the altar. 17 Then cut it into pieces and wash its inner organs and its legs, putting them with its head and its other pieces. 18 Burn the whole sheep on the altar; it is a burnt offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.
19 “Take the other male sheep, and have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. 20 Kill it and take some of its blood. Put the blood on the bottom of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then sprinkle the rest of the blood against all four sides of the altar. 21 Take some of the blood from the altar, and mix it with the special oil used in appointing priests. Sprinkle this on Aaron and his clothes and on his sons and their clothes. This will show that Aaron and his sons and their clothes are given to my service.
22 “Then take the fat from the male sheep, the fat tail, and the fat that covers the inner organs. In addition, take the best part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them, and the right thigh. (This is the male sheep to be used in appointing priests.)
23 “Then take the basket of bread that you made without yeast, which you put before the Lord. From it take a loaf of bread, a cake made with olive oil, and a wafer. 24 Put all of these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and tell them to present them as an offering to the Lord. 25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar with the whole burnt offering. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord; its smell is pleasing to the Lord. 26 Then take the breast of the male sheep used to appoint Aaron as priest, and present it before the Lord as an offering. This part of the animal will be your share. 27 Set aside the breast and the thigh of the sheep that were used to appoint Aaron and his sons as priests. These parts belong to them. 28 They are to be the regular share which the Israelites will always give to Aaron and his sons. It is the gift the Israelites must give to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.
29 “The holy clothes made for Aaron will belong to his descendants so that they can wear these clothes when they are appointed as priests. 30 Aaron’s son, who will become high priest after Aaron, will come to the Meeting Tent to serve in the Holy Place. He is to wear these clothes for seven days.
31 “Take the male sheep used to appoint priests and boil its meat in a place that is holy. 32 Then at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, Aaron and his sons must eat the meat of the sheep and the bread that is in the basket. 33 They should eat these offerings that were used to remove their sins and to make them holy when they were made priests. But no one else is to eat them, because they are holy things. 34 If any of the meat from that sheep or any of the bread is left the next morning, it must be burned. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “Do all these things that I commanded you to do to Aaron and his sons, and spend seven days appointing them. 36 Each day you are to offer a bull to remove the sins of Aaron and his sons so they will be given for service to the Lord. Make the altar ready for service to the Lord, and pour oil on it to make it holy. 37 Spend seven days making the altar ready for service to God and making it holy. Then the altar will become very holy, and anything that touches it must be holy.
The Daily Sacrifices
38 “Every day from now on, offer on the altar two lambs that are one year old. 39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening before dark. 40 In the morning, when you offer the first lamb, offer also two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of oil from pressed olives. Pour out a quart of wine as a drink offering. 41 Offer the second lamb in the evening with the same grain offering and drink offering as you did in the morning. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord, and its smell is pleasing to him.
42 “You must burn these things as an offering to the Lord every day, from now on, at the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord. When you make the offering, I, the Lord, will meet you there and speak to you. 43 I will meet with the people of Israel there, and that place will be holy because of my glory.
44 “So I will make the Meeting Tent and the altar holy; I will also make Aaron and his sons holy so they may serve me as priests. 45 I will live with the people of Israel and be their God. 46 And they will know that I am the Lord their God who led them out of Egypt so that I could live with them. I am the Lord their God.
The Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 But early in the morning he went back to the Temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat and taught them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They forced her to stand before the people. 4 They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught having sexual relations with a man who is not her husband. 5 The law of Moses commands that we stone to death every woman who does this. What do you say we should do?” 6 They were asking this to trick Jesus so that they could have some charge against him.
But Jesus bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 When they continued to ask Jesus their question, he raised up and said, “Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her.” 8 Then Jesus bent over again and wrote on the ground.
9 Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one, first the older men and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus raised up again and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one judged you guilty?”
11 She answered, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “I also don’t judge you guilty. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”]
Jesus Is the Light of the World
12 Later, Jesus talked to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The person who follows me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life.”
13 The Pharisees said to Jesus, “When you talk about yourself, you are the only one to say these things are true. We cannot accept what you say.”
14 Jesus answered, “Yes, I am saying these things about myself, but they are true. I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don’t know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards. I am not judging anyone. 16 But when I do judge, I judge truthfully, because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that when two witnesses say the same thing, you must accept what they say. 18 I am one of the witnesses who speaks about myself, and the Father who sent me is the other witness.”
19 They asked, “Where is your father?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father, too.” 20 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Temple, near where the money is kept. But no one arrested him, because the right time for him had not yet come.
The People Misunderstand Jesus
21 Again, Jesus said to the people, “I will leave you, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot come where I am going.”
22 So the Jews asked, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he said, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?”
23 Jesus said, “You people are from here below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don’t belong to this world. 24 So I told you that you would die in your sins. Yes, you will die in your sins if you don’t believe that I am he.”
25 They asked, “Then who are you?”
Jesus answered, “I am what I have told you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and decide about you. But I tell people only the things I have heard from the One who sent me, and he speaks the truth.”
27 The people did not understand that he was talking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that I am he. You will know that these things I do are not by my own authority but that I say only what the Father has taught me. 29 The One who sent me is with me. I always do what is pleasing to him, so he has not left me alone.” 30 While Jesus was saying these things, many people believed in him.
Freedom from Sin
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
33 They answered, “We are Abraham’s children, and we have never been anyone’s slaves. So why do you say we will be free?”
34 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, everyone who lives in sin is a slave to sin. 35 A slave does not stay with a family forever, but a son belongs to the family forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be truly free. 37 I know you are Abraham’s children, but you want to kill me because you don’t accept my teaching. 38 I am telling you what my Father has shown me, but you do what your father has told you.”
39 They answered, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said, “If you were really Abraham’s children, you would do[a] the things Abraham did. 40 I am a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. 41 So you are doing the things your own father did.”
But they said, “We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father; he is the only Father we have.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were really your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority; God sent me. 43 You don’t understand what I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. 44 You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and was against the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he shows what he is really like, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you don’t believe me. 46 Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The person who belongs to God accepts what God says. But you don’t accept what God says, because you don’t belong to God.”
Jesus Is Greater than Abraham
48 They answered, “We say you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you. Are we not right?”
49 Jesus answered, “I have no demon in me. I give honor to my Father, but you dishonor me. 50 I am not trying to get honor for myself. There is One who wants this honor for me, and he is the judge. 51 I tell you the truth, whoever obeys my teaching will never die.”
52 They said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon in you! Even Abraham and the prophets died. But you say, ‘Whoever obeys my teaching will never die.’ 53 Do you think you are greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died, too. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I give honor to myself, that honor is worth nothing. The One who gives me honor is my Father, and you say he is your God. 55 You don’t really know him, but I know him. If I said I did not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey what he says. 56 Your father Abraham was very happy that he would see my day. He saw that day and was glad.”
57 They said to him, “You have never seen Abraham! You are not even fifty years old.”
58 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” 59 When Jesus said this, the people picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself, and then he left the Temple.
Warning About Adultery
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen to my words of understanding.
2 Be careful to use good sense,
and watch what you say.
3 The words of another man’s wife may seem sweet as honey;
they may be as smooth as olive oil.
4 But in the end she will bring you sorrow,
causing you pain like a two-edged sword.
5 She is on the way to death;
her steps are headed straight to the grave.
6 She gives little thought to life.
She doesn’t even know that her ways are wrong.
7 Now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t ignore what I say.
8 Stay away from such a woman.
Don’t even go near the door of her house,
9 or you will give your riches to others,
and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.
10 Strangers will enjoy your wealth,
and what you worked so hard for will go to someone else.
11 You will groan at the end of your life
when your health is gone.
12 Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do!
I would not listen to correction!
13 I would not listen to my teachers
or pay attention to my instructors.
14 I came close to being completely ruined
in front of a whole group of people.”
15 Be faithful to your own wife,
just as you drink water from your own well.
16 Don’t pour your water in the streets;
don’t give your love to just any woman.
17 These things are yours alone
and shouldn’t be shared with strangers.
18 Be happy with the wife you married when you were young.
She gives you joy, as your fountain gives you water.
19 She is as lovely and graceful as a deer.
Let her love always make you happy;
let her love always hold you captive.
20 My son, don’t be held captive by a woman who takes part in adultery.
Don’t fondle a woman who is not your wife.
21 The Lord sees everything you do,
and he watches where you go.
22 An evil man will be caught in his wicked ways;
the ropes of his sins will tie him up.
23 He will die because he does not control himself,
and he will be held captive by his foolishness.
4 I want to tell you this: While those who will inherit their fathers’ property are still children, they are no different from slaves. It does not matter that the children own everything. 2 While they are children, they must obey those who are chosen to care for them. But when the children reach the age set by their fathers, they are free. 3 It is the same for us. We were once like children, slaves to the useless rules of this world. 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son who was born of a woman and lived under the law. 5 God did this so he could buy freedom for those who were under the law and so we could become his children.
6 Since you are God’s children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and the Spirit cries out, “Father.”[a] 7 So now you are not a slave; you are God’s child, and God will give you the blessing he promised, because you are his child.
Paul’s Love for the Christians
8 In the past you did not know God. You were slaves to gods that were not real. 9 But now you know the true God. Really, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to those weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again? 10 You still follow teachings about special days, months, seasons, and years. 11 I am afraid for you, that my work for you has been wasted.
12 Brothers and sisters, I became like you, so I beg you to become like me. You were very good to me before. 13 You remember that it was because of an illness that I came to you the first time, preaching the Good News. 14 Though my sickness was a trouble for you, you did not hate me or make me leave. But you welcomed me as an angel from God, as if I were Jesus Christ himself! 15 You were very happy then, but where is that joy now? I am ready to testify that you would have taken out your eyes and given them to me if that were possible. 16 Now am I your enemy because I tell you the truth?
17 Those people[b] are working hard to persuade you, but this is not good for you. They want to persuade you to turn against us and follow only them. 18 It is good for people to show interest in you, but only if their purpose is good. This is always true, not just when I am with you. 19 My little children, again I feel the pain of childbirth for you until you truly become like Christ. 20 I wish I could be with you now and could change the way I am talking to you, because I do not know what to think about you.
The Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Some of you still want to be under the law. Tell me, do you know what the law says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one son was a slave woman, and the mother of the other son was a free woman. 23 Abraham’s son from the slave woman was born in the normal human way. But the son from the free woman was born because of the promise God made to Abraham.
24 This story teaches something else: The two women are like the two agreements between God and his people. One agreement is the law that God made on Mount Sinai,[c] and the people who are under this agreement are like slaves. The mother named Hagar is like that agreement. 25 She is like Mount Sinai in Arabia and is a picture of the earthly city of Jerusalem. This city and its people are slaves to the law. 26 But the heavenly Jerusalem, which is above, is like the free woman. She is our mother. 27 It is written in the Scriptures:
“Be happy, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth,
but you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.” Isaiah 54:1
28 My brothers and sisters, you are God’s children because of his promise, as Isaac was then. 29 The son who was born in the normal way treated the other son badly. It is the same today. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son. The son of the slave woman should not inherit anything. The son of the free woman should receive it all.”[d] 31 So, my brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.