M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Laws about Gifts to the Lord

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man makes a special promise, you will decide upon the worth of this person for the Lord. ³ The price you put on a man from twenty to sixty years old will be fifty pieces of silver, by the weight of the holy place. ⁴ For a woman it will be thirty pieces of silver. ⁵ For a male from five to twenty years old it will be twenty pieces of silver. For a woman it will be ten pieces of silver. ⁶ Your price for a child from one month to five years old will be five pieces of silver for the boy, and three pieces of silver for the girl. ⁷ Your price for a person sixty years old and older will be fifteen pieces of silver for the man, and ten pieces of silver for the woman. ⁸ But if the person is too poor to pay your price, he will be brought to the religious leader. The religious leader will decide the worth of the person by how much he who made the promise is able to pay.

⁹ ‘If it is a kind of animal which men give as a gift to the Lord, any such animal that is given to the Lord will be holy. ¹⁰ He must not have another animal take its place, good for bad or bad for good. If he does trade one animal for another, then both animals will become holy. ¹¹ But if the animal is unclean and not the kind which men give to the Lord, then he will bring the animal to the religious leader. ¹² The religious leader will decide if it is good or bad. Whatever price the religious leader puts on it, so it will be. ¹³ If the man wants to buy it again, he will add a fifth to your price.

¹⁴ ‘When a man sets apart his house as holy to the Lord, the religious leader will decide if it is good or bad. Whatever price the religious leader puts on it, so it will be. ¹⁵ If the man who sets it apart wants to buy his house again, he will add one-fifth part to your price. Then it will be his.

¹⁶ ‘If a man sets apart to the Lord part of a field he owns, you will decide upon its price by the seed needed for it. Ten baskets of barley seed will be worth fifty pieces of silver. ¹⁷ If he sets apart his field during the Year of Jubilee, it will be worth your full price. ¹⁸ But if he sets apart his field after the Year of Jubilee, the religious leader will decide upon its worth by the years left until the next Year of Jubilee. It will be taken off your price. ¹⁹ If the man who sets it apart wants to buy his field again, he will add one-fifth part to your price. Then it will be his. ²⁰ But if he does not want to buy the field again, or has sold the field to another man, it cannot be bought again. ²¹ And when the field becomes free in the Jubilee, it will be holy to the Lord, like a field set apart. It will belong to the religious leader. ²² If a man sets apart to the Lord a field he has bought, which is not a part of the land he was given by his father, ²³ the religious leader will decide its worth until the Year of Jubilee. The man will pay that amount on that day as holy to the Lord. ²⁴ In the Year of Jubilee the field will return from him who bought it to the one who owned it first. ²⁵ The price of silver used in the holy place will decide its worth. One piece of silver will be worth twenty small pieces of money.

²⁶ ‘But no man may set apart a first-born of the animals. A first-born of the cattle or the flock belongs to the Lord. ²⁷ If it is an animal that is unclean, he will buy it again by paying your price and one-fifth part added to it. If it is not bought again, then it will be sold for your price.

²⁸ ‘But nothing that a man sets apart to the Lord of all he has, of man or animal or his own land, will be sold or bought. Everything that has been set apart is most holy to the Lord. ²⁹ No person who has been set apart to be destroyed from among men can be paid for. He must be put to death.

³⁰ ‘The tenth part of all the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord. ³¹ If a man wants to buy any of the tenth part that belongs to the Lord, he will add one-fifth part to its price. ³² And every tenth animal of the cattle or flock, whatever passes under the shepherd’s stick, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord. ³³ The man will not ask if it is good or bad, or trade it for something else. If he does trade it for something else, then both will become holy. He cannot buy them again.’”

³⁴ These are the Laws the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the sons of Israel.

Those Who Trust in God Are Happy

34 I will honor the Lord at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. ² My soul will be proud to tell about the Lord. Let those who suffer hear it and be filled with joy. ³ Give great honor to the Lord with me. Let us praise His name together.

⁴ I looked for the Lord, and He answered me. And He took away all my fears. ⁵ They looked to Him and their faces shined with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. And He saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord stays close around those who fear Him, and He takes them out of trouble.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him! ⁹ O fear the Lord, all you who belong to Him. For those who fear Him never want for anything. ¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger. But they who look for the Lord will not be without any good thing. ¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹² Who is the man who has a desire for life, and wants to live long so that he may see good things? ¹³ Keep your tongue from sin and your lips from speaking lies. ¹⁴ Turn away from what is sinful. Do what is good. Look for peace and follow it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on those who do what is right and good. His ears are open to their cry. ¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against those who sin. He will keep the people of the earth from remembering them. ¹⁷ Those who are right with the Lord cry, and He hears them. And He takes them from all their troubles. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart. And He saves those who are broken in spirit.

¹⁹ A man who does what is right and good may have many troubles. But the Lord takes him out of them all. ²⁰ He keeps all his bones safe. Not one of them is broken. ²¹ Sin will kill the sinful. And those who hate God’s people will be held guilty and punished forever. ²² The Lord saves the soul of those who work for Him. None of those who trust in Him will be held guilty.

10 Dead flies make a perfume maker’s oil smell bad. So does acting a little foolish weigh more than wisdom and honor. ² A wise man’s heart leads him toward the right. But the foolish man’s heart leads him toward the left. ³ Even when the fool walks on the road, he has little understanding and shows everyone that he is a fool. ⁴ If the ruler becomes angry with you, do not back away. If you are quiet, much wrong-doing may be put aside.

⁵ There is a sin I have seen under the sun, like a mistake done by a ruler: ⁶ Fools are put in many places of honor, while rich men sit in places that are not important. ⁷ I have seen servants riding on horses, and princes walking like servants on the land.

⁸ He who digs a deep hole may fall into it. And a snake may bite him who breaks through a wall. ⁹ He who cuts stones may be hurt by them. And he who cuts trees may be in danger by them. ¹⁰ If the ax is not sharp and he does not make it sharp, then he must use more strength. Wisdom helps one to do well. ¹¹ If the snake bites before it is put under a man’s power, it will not be of help to the man who would have power over it. ¹² The words of a wise man’s mouth are kind, but the lips of a fool destroy him. ¹³ The beginning of his talking is foolish, and the end of it is sinful and crazy. ¹⁴ Yet the fool speaks many words. No man knows what will happen. And who can tell him what will come after him? ¹⁵ The work of a fool makes him so tired that he does not even know the way to a city. ¹⁶ It is bad for you, O land, when your king is a child and your princes eat too much in the morning. ¹⁷ Happy are you, O land, when your king is from parents who have ruled, and your princes eat at the right time, for strength and not to get drunk. ¹⁸ When men are lazy, the roof begins to fall in. When they will do no work, the rain comes into the house. ¹⁹ Food is made ready to be enjoyed, wine makes life happy, but money is the answer to everything. ²⁰ Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich man in your bedroom because a bird of the heavens will carry your voice and an animal with wings will make it known.

Right Teaching

2 You must teach what is right and true. ² Older men are to be quiet and to be careful how they act. They are to be the boss over their own desires. Their faith and love are to stay strong and they are not to give up. ³ Teach older women to be quiet and to be careful how they act also. They are not to go around speaking bad things about others or things that are not true. They are not to be chained by strong drink. They should teach what is good.

⁴ Older women are to teach the young women to love their husbands and children. ⁵ They are to teach them to think before they act, to be pure, to be workers at home, to be kind, and to obey their own husbands. In this way, the Word of God is honored. ⁶ Also teach young men to be wise. ⁷ In all things show them how to live by your life and by right teaching. ⁸ You should be wise in what you say. Then the one who is against you will be ashamed and will not be able to say anything bad about you.

⁹ Those who are servants owned by someone must obey their owners and please them in everything. They must not argue. ¹⁰ They must not steal from their owners but prove they can be trusted in every way. In this way, their lives will honor the teaching of God Who saves us.

¹¹ God’s free gift of being saved is being given to everyone. ¹² We are taught to have nothing to do with that which is against God. We are to have nothing to do with the desires of this world. We are to be wise and to be right with God. We are to live God-like lives in this world. ¹³ We are to be looking for the great hope and the coming of our great God and the One Who saves, Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ He gave Himself for us. He did this by buying us with His blood and making us free from all sin. He gave Himself so His people could be clean and want to do good. ¹⁵ Teach all these things and give words of help. Show them if they are wrong. You have the right and the power to do this. Do not let anyone think little of you.