M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lamp
24 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelis that they are to bring to you pure oil made from beaten olives in order to keep the lamp burning continuously. 3 Outside the Canopy of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to arrange it continually in the Lord’s presence from evening until morning as an eternal ordinance throughout your generations. 4 He is to arrange the lamps so that they burn continuously on a ceremonially pure lamp stand in the Lord’s presence. 5 Take fine flour and bake twelve cakes using two tenths of a measure[a] for each cake. 6 Arrange them in two rows—six in each row—on a ceremonially pure table in the Lord’s presence. 7 Put pure frankincense on each row for a memorial offering. It will serve as an offering made by fire to the Lord. 8 They are to be arranged every Sabbath day[b] in the Lord’s presence as a gift[c] from the Israelis—an eternal covenant. 9 This gift[d] will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they are to eat it in a sacred place, because it’s the most holy thing for him of all the offerings made by fire to the Lord. This is to be an eternal ordinance.”
A Case History of Blasphemy
10 Now a son of an Israeli woman and an Egyptian man[e] went out among the Israelis. The Israeli woman’s son got into a fight with an Israeli man in the camp. 11 Then the Israeli woman’s son blasphemed the Name and cursed, so they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, from the tribe of Dan. 12 They placed him in custody until a decision would be made[f] to them according to the word[g] of the Lord. 13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 14 “Take the one who cursed outside the camp. Everyone who heard him is to lay their hands on his head. Then the entire congregation is to stone him to death. 15 Moreover, tell the Israelis that anyone who curses his God will bear the consequences of his own sin, 16 because the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord is certainly to be put to death. The entire congregation is to stone him to death. As it is for the resident alien, so it is to be with the native born: when he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death.
17 “If a man beats a human being[h] to death,[i] he is certainly to be executed, 18 but whoever beats an animal to death is to replace it—life for life. 19 If a man disfigures his fellow, whatever he did is to be done to him also. 20 Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth—just as he had caused a disfigurement against another man, so it is to be done against him. 21 Whoever beats an animal to death is to replace it, but whoever beats a human being to death[j] is to be put to death. 22 You are to have for yourselves consistent[k] procedures in deciding a case. As it is for the resident alien, so it is for the native born. I am the Lord your God.”
23 So Moses spoke to the Israelis and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him to death with boulders. The Israelis did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
Prayer and Thanksgiving
31 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
Let me never be ashamed.
Because you are righteous, deliver me!
2 Listen to me,
and deliver me quickly.
Become a rock of safety for me,
a fortified citadel to deliver me;
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name guide me and lead me.
4 Rescue me from the net that they concealed to trap me;
for you are my strength.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
for you have redeemed me,
Lord God of truth.
6 I despise those who trust vain idols;
but I have trusted in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your gracious love,
for you see my affliction
and take note that my soul is distressed.
8 You have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy,
but you have set my feet in a sturdy[a] place.
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
for I am in distress.
My eyes have been consumed by my grief
along with my soul and my body.
10 My life is consumed by sorrow,
my years with groaning.
My strength has faltered because of my iniquity;[b]
my bones have been consumed.
11 I have become an object of reproach to all my enemies,
especially to my neighbors.
I have become an object of fear to my friends,
and whoever sees me outside runs away from me.
12 Like a dead man, I am forgotten in their thoughts[c]—
like broken pottery.
13 I have heard the slander of many;
it is like terror all around me,
as they conspire together and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 May your face shine on your servant;
in your gracious love, deliver me.
17 Let me not be ashamed, Lord,
for I have called upon you.
Let the wicked be put to shame,
let them be silent in the next life.[d]
18 Let the lying lips be made still,
especially those who speak arrogantly
against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19 How great is your goodness
that you have reserved for those who fear you,
that you have set in place for those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of the children of men.
20 You will hide them in the secret place of your presence,
away from the conspiracies of men.
You will hide them in your tent,
away from their contentious tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord!
In a marvelous way he demonstrated his gracious love to me,
when I was in a city under siege.
22 When I said in my panic,
“I have been cut off in your sight,”
then you surely heard the voice of my prayer
in my plea to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all his godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful
and repays those who act with proud motives.
24 Be strong,
and let your heart be courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord.
Lessons for Life
7 A good name exceeds the value of fine perfume,
and the day of someone’s death exceeds the value of[a] the day of his birth.
2 It’s better to attend a funeral[b]
than to attend a banquet,[c]
for everyone dies eventually,
and the living will take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
because the heart is made better through trouble.
4 For the wise person thinks carefully when in mourning,
but fools focus their thoughts on pleasure.
5 It is better to listen to a wise person’s rebuke
than to listen to the praise[d] of fools.
6 For as thorns burn to heat a pot,
so also is the laughter of the fool—
even this is pointless.
Avoiding the Evils of Life
7 Unjust gain makes the wise foolish,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The conclusion of something is better than its beginning,
and a patient attitude[e] is more valuable than a proud one.[f]
9 Never be in a hurry to become internally angry,
since anger settles down in the lap of fools.
10 Never ask “Why does the past[g] seem so much better than now?”[h]
because this question does not come from wisdom.
11 Wise use of possessions is good;
it brings benefit to the living.[i]
12 Indeed, wisdom gives protection,[j] just like money does,
but it’s better to know that wisdom gives life,
to those who have mastered[k] it.
The Works of God
13 Consider the work of God:
Who is able to straighten
what he has bent?
14 When times are good, be joyful;
when times are bad, consider this:
God made the one as well as the other,
so people won’t seek anything outside of his best.
15 I have seen it all[l] during my pointless life:
both a righteous person who dies
while he is righteous,
and a wicked person who lives to an old age,
while remaining wicked.[m]
Practical Wisdom
16 Do not be overly righteous,
nor be overly wise.
Why be self-destructive?
17 Do not excel at wickedness,
nor be a fool.
Why die before your time?
18 It is good for you to grab hold of this and not let go,
because whoever fears God will escape
all of these extremes.[n]
19 Wisdom given as strength to a wise person
is better than having ten powerful men in the city.
20 For there is not a single righteous man on earth
who practices good and does not sin.
21 Don’t listen to everything that is spoken—
you may hear your servant cursing you,
22 since you also know how often
you have cursed others.
23 I used my wisdom to test all of this.
I said, “I want to be wise,”
but it was beyond me.
24 Whatever it is,
it’s far off and most profound.
Who can attain it?
25 I committed myself to understand,
to learn, to search for wisdom and explanations,
and to understand both the evil that is foolishness
and the stupidity that is delusion.
26 I discovered for myself a bitterness
that surpasses that of death:
the woman whose heart is full of[o] snares and nets,
whose hands are chains of bondage.
Whoever pleases God will escape from her,
but the transgressor will be trapped by her.
27 “Look at this,” says the Teacher. “Linking one thing to another, I reached this conclusion:
28 Among the things I seek but have not found:
one man among a thousand I did find,
but I have not found one woman to be wise[p] among all these.
29 I have discovered only this:
God made human beings for righteousness,
but they seek many alternatives.”
What People will be Like in the Last Days
3 You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 5 They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people. 6 For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires. 7 These women are always studying but are never able to arrive at a full knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and their faith is a counterfeit. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those two men,[a] their stupidity will be plain to everyone.
Continue to Teach the Truth
10 But you have observed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 and how I was persecuted and suffered in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in union with the Messiah[b] Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse as they deceive others and are themselves deceived.
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it. 15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah[c] Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed[d] and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.
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