M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules for the Nazirites
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘A man or woman may make a special promise, the promise of a Nazirite, to set himself apart to the Lord. 3 Then he must keep away from wine and strong drink. He will drink no sour wine, made from wine or strong drink. He will not drink any grape drink. And he will not eat new or dried grapes. 4 All the days he is set apart, he must not eat anything made from the grape-field, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 ‘No hair of his head will be cut, all the days of his promise to be set apart. He must be holy until the time is finished for which he set himself apart to the Lord. He will let the hair on his head grow long.
6 ‘All the days he is set apart to the Lord, he must not go near a dead person. 7 He must not allow himself to be made unclean when his father, mother, brother or sister die. For he has made a promise to be set apart to God. 8 He is holy to the Lord all the days he is set apart.
9 ‘But if a man dies next to him, making his hair unclean which had been set apart to the Lord, then he must cut all the hair from his head on the day he is made clean. He will cut it off on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day he must bring two turtle-doves or two young pigeons to the religious leader, to the door of the meeting tent. 11 The religious leader will give one for a sin gift and the other for a burnt gift. He will pay for his sin because of the dead person. And he will make his head holy that same day. 12 He will set apart to the Lord his days as a Nazirite. And he will bring a year old male lamb for a guilt gift. But the past days will be a loss, because he had become unclean during the time he was set apart.
13 ‘This is the Law of the Nazirite when the time he is set apart is finished. He must bring the gift to the door of the meeting tent. 14 He will give his gift to the Lord. It will be a perfect male lamb a year old for a burnt gift, one perfect female lamb a year old for a sin gift, and one perfect ram for a peace gift. 15 And he will give a basket of bread made of fine flour mixed with oil, made without yeast. He will give hard bread spread with oil and made without yeast. With them he will give their grain gift and drink gifts. 16 Then the religious leader will give all these to the Lord and his sin gift and his burnt gift. 17 He will also give the ram for peace gifts to the Lord, together with the basket of bread made without yeast. Then the religious leader will give its grain gift and drink gift. 18 Then at the door of the meeting tent the Nazirite will cut off the hair that has been set apart for holy use. He is to take the hair and put it in the fire under the peace gifts. 19 The religious leader will take the shoulder of the ram when it has been boiled and a loaf of bread and a piece of hard bread, both made without yeast and put them in the hands of the Nazirite. This is done after he has cut off the hair that has been set apart. 20 The religious leader will wave them for a wave gift before the Lord. They are holy and belong to the religious leader, together with the breast given as a wave gift and the thigh given by lifting it up. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’
21 “This is the Law of the Nazirite who makes a promise to give to the Lord what he promised as a Nazirite, and whatever else he is able to give. He must do what he has promised by the Law of being set apart as a Nazirite.”
Religious Leaders Bring Good to the People
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Say to Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way you should bring good to the people of Israel. Say to them, 24 “May the Lord bring good to you and keep you. 25 May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be kind to you. 26 May the Lord show favor toward you, and give you peace.”’ 27 So they will put My name upon the people of Israel, and I will bring good to them.”
God Keeps His Own
40 I did not give up waiting for the Lord. And He turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up out of the hole of danger, out of the mud and clay. He set my feet on a rock, making my feet sure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will put their trust in the Lord.
4 How happy is the man who has made the Lord his trust, and has not turned to the proud or to the followers of lies. 5 O Lord my God, many are the great works You have done, and Your thoughts toward us. No one can compare with You! If I were to speak and tell of them, there would be too many to number.
6 You have not wanted gifts given on the altar in worship. You have opened my ears. You have not wanted burnt gifts or gifts to cover sins. 7 Then I said, “Look, I have come. It is written about me in the book. 8 I am happy to do Your will, O my God. Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have told the good news about what is right and good in the big meeting with many people. You know I will not close my lips, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden what is right and good with You in my heart. I have spoken about how faithful You are and about Your saving power. I have not hidden Your loving-kindness and Your truth from the big meeting.
11 O Lord, You will not keep Your loving-pity from me. Your loving-kindness and Your truth will always keep me safe. 12 Too many troubles gather around me. My sins have taken such a hold on me that I am not able to see. There are more of them than there are hairs on my head. And the strength of my heart has left me.
13 Be pleased to save me, O Lord. Hurry, O Lord, to help me. 14 Let all who want to destroy my life be ashamed and troubled. Let those who want to hurt me be turned away without honor. 15 Let those who say to me, “O! O!” be filled with fear because of their shame. 16 But let all who look for You have joy and be glad in You. Let those who love Your saving power always say, “The Lord be honored!” 17 Because I suffer and am in need, let the Lord think of me. You are my help and the One Who sets me free. O my God, do not wait.
Prayer of a Sick Man about False Friends
41 Happy is the man who cares for the poor. The Lord will save him in times of trouble. 2 The Lord will keep him alive and safe. And he will be happy upon the earth. You will not give him over to the desire of those who hate him. 3 The Lord will give him strength on his bed of sickness. When he is sick, You will make him well again.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, have loving-kindness for me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” 5 Those who hate me speak bad words against me, saying, “When will he die, and his name be forgotten?” 6 When one comes to see me, he speaks lies. His heart gathers up bad stories. Then he goes outside and tells them. 7 All who hate me speak in secret together against me. They make plans to hurt me, saying, 8 “A bad thing has come over him. When he lies down, he will not rise again.” 9 Even a friend of mine whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has turned against me.
10 Have loving-kindness for me, O Lord. Raise me up, so that I may pay them back. 11 Then I will know that You are pleased with me, because he who hates me does not win over me. 12 As for me, You hold me up in my honesty. And You set me beside You forever.
13 Honor be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! Let it be so!
King Solomon
4 “How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your face-covering. Your hair is like a flock of goats coming down from Mount Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that have just had their wool cut and have come up from their washing. All have given birth to two lambs, and not one among them has lost her young. 3 Your lips are like a bright red string. Your mouth is beautiful. The sides of your face are like a piece of a pomegranate under your covering. 4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built with beauty. On it hang a thousand battle-coverings, the coverings of men of war. 5 Your two breasts are like two young deer, the two young ones of a gazelle, that eat among the lilies. 6 Until the morning comes and the shadows hurry away, I will go to the mountain of perfume plants, to the hill of special perfume.
7 “You are all beautiful, my love. You are perfect. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride. May you come with me from Lebanon. Travel down from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the homes of lions, from the mountain homes of leopards. 9 You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride. You have made my heart beat faster with one look from your eyes, with one piece of the beautiful chain around your neck. 10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the sweet smell of your oils than all kinds of spices! 11 Honey comes from your lips, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue. And the sweet smell of your clothing is like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden closed and locked is my sister, my bride, a garden shut up and covered over. 13 Your young branches are a garden of pomegranates with all the best fruits, henna with nard plants. 14 There is nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices. 15 You are a garden well, a well of flowing water, and rivers coming from Lebanon.”
The Woman
16 “Wake up, O north wind! Come, south wind! Blow upon my garden so the sweet smells will spread far. May my loved one come into his garden and eat its best fruits.”
The Christian’s Rest
4 The same promise of going into God’s rest is still for us. But we should be afraid that some of us may not be able to go in. 2 We have heard the Good News even as they did, but it did them no good because it was not mixed with faith. 3 We who have put our trust in God go into His rest. God said this of our early fathers, “I was angry and said, ‘They will not go into My rest.’”(A) And yet God’s work was finished after He made the world.
God’s Rest
4 In the Holy Writings He said this about the seventh day when He made the whole world, “God rested on the seventh day from all He had made.” (B) 5 But God said this about those who turned against Him, “They will not go into My rest.” (C) 6 Those who heard the Good News first did not go into His rest. It was because they had not obeyed Him. But the promise is still good and some are going into His rest. 7 God has again set a certain day for people to go into His rest. He says through David many years later as He had said before, “If you hear His voice today, do not let your hearts become hard.” (D)
8 If Joshua had led those people into God’s rest, He would not have told of another day after that. 9 And so God’s people have a complete rest waiting for them. 10 The man who goes into God’s rest, rests from his own work the same as God rested from His work. 11 Let us do our best to go into that rest or we will be like the people who did not go in.
12 God’s Word is living and powerful. It is sharper than a sword that cuts both ways. It cuts straight into where the soul and spirit meet and it divides them. It cuts into the joints and bones. It tells what the heart is thinking about and what it wants to do. 13 No one can hide from God. His eyes see everything we do. We must give an answer to God for what we have done.
Jesus—Our Great Religious Leader
14 We have a great Religious Leader Who has made the way for man to go to God. He is Jesus, the Son of God, Who has gone to heaven to be with God. Let us keep our trust in Jesus Christ. 15 Our Religious Leader understands how weak we are. Christ was tempted in every way we are tempted, but He did not sin. 16 Let us go with complete trust to the throne of God. We will receive His loving-kindness and have His loving-favor to help us whenever we need it.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.