M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Moses Appoints the Priests

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Take Aaron and his sons with him and the clothes, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. ³ Then gather the people together at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.”

⁴ Moses did what the Lord commanded him. The people met together at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. ⁵ Then Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded must be done.”

⁶ Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. ⁷ Moses put the woven shirt on Aaron and tied the cloth belt around him. Then Moses put the robe and the ephod on Aaron and tied the beautiful cloth belt around him. ⁸ Moses put the judgment pouch on Aaron and put the Urim and Thummim inside its pocket. ⁹ He also put the turban on Aaron’s head. He put the strip of gold on the front of the turban. This strip of gold is the holy crown. Moses did this just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil and sprinkled it on the Holy Tent and on everything in it. In this way he made them holy. ¹¹ He sprinkled some of the anointing oil on the altar seven times. He sprinkled the oil on the altar, on all its tools and dishes, and on the bowl and its base. In this way he made them holy. ¹² He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head to make him holy. ¹³ Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons forward. He put their woven shirts on them, tied belts around them, and put cloth caps on their heads. He did everything just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁴ Then Moses brought out the bull of the sin offering. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the bull’s head. ¹⁵ Then Moses killed the bull and collected its blood. He used his finger to put some of the blood on all the corners of the altar. In this way he made the altar ready for sacrifices. Then he poured out the blood at the base of the altar to make the altar ready for sacrifices to make the people pure. ¹⁶ Moses took all the fat from the inner parts of the bull. He took the fat part of the liver with the two kidneys and the fat on them. Then he burned them on the altar. ¹⁷ Moses took the bull’s skin, its meat, and its body waste outside the camp. He burned these things in a fire outside the camp. He did everything just as the Lord commanded him.

¹⁸ Then Moses brought the ram of the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the ram’s head. ¹⁹ Then Moses killed the ram. He sprinkled the blood around on the altar. ^20-21 He cut the ram into pieces. He washed the inner parts and legs with water. Then he burned the whole ram on the altar. He burned the head, the pieces, and the fat as a burnt offering. It was a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded.

²² Then Moses brought the other ram. This ram was used for appointing Aaron and his sons to become priests. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the ram’s head. ²³ Then Moses killed the ram. He put some of its blood on the tip of Aaron’s ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons close to the altar. He put some of the blood on the tip of their right ears, on the thumb of their right hands, and on the big toe of their right feet. Then he sprinkled the blood around on the altar. ²⁵ He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat on the inner parts, the fat covering of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh. ²⁶ A basket of unleavened bread is put before the Lord each day. Moses took one of those loaves of bread, one loaf of bread mixed with oil, and one unleavened wafer. He put these pieces of bread on the fat and on the right thigh of the ram. ²⁷ Then he put all of it in the hands of Aaron and his sons. Moses lifted these pieces to show he was offering them before the Lord. ²⁸ Then Moses took these things from the hands of Aaron and his sons and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering. So this was the offering for appointing Aaron and his sons as priests. It was a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ²⁹ Moses took the breast and lifted it to show he had presented it to the Lord. It was Moses’ share of the ram for appointing the priests. This was just as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁰ Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar. He sprinkled some on Aaron and on Aaron’s clothes. He sprinkled some on Aaron’s sons who were with Aaron and on their clothes. In this way Moses made Aaron, his clothes, his sons, and his sons’ clothes holy.

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “I told you, ‘Aaron and his sons must eat these things.’ So take the basket of bread and meat from the ceremony for appointing the priests. Boil that meat at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Eat the meat and bread at that place. Do this as I told you. ³² If any of the meat or bread is left, burn it. ³³ The ceremony for appointing the priests will last for seven days. You must not leave the entrance of the Meeting Tent until that time is finished. ³⁴ Everything we did today was what the Lord commanded us to do in order to make you pure. ³⁵ You must stay at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days. If you don’t obey the Lord’s commands, you will die! The Lord gave me these commands.”

³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

^[a] To the director: Use the Alamoth of Ben.^[b] A song of David.

— 6 —

23 When you sit and eat with an important person, remember who you are with. ² Never eat too much, even if you are very hungry. ³ Don’t eat too much of his fine food. It might be a trick.

— 7 —

⁴ Don’t ruin your health trying to get rich. If you are smart, you will give it up. ⁵ In the blink of an eye, money can disappear, as if it grew wings and flew away like a bird.

— 8 —

⁶ Don’t eat with selfish people. Control any desire you have for their finest foods. ⁷ They might tell you to eat and drink all you want, but they don’t really mean it. They are the kind of people who are only thinking about the cost. ⁸ And if you eat their food, you will get sick and be embarrassed.

— 9 —

⁹ Don’t try to teach fools. They will make fun of your wise words.

— 10 —

¹⁰ Never move an old property line, and don’t take land that belongs to orphans. ¹¹ The Lord will be against you. He is powerful and protects orphans.

— 11 —

¹² Listen to your teacher and learn all you can.

— 12 —

¹³ Always correct children when they need it. If you spank them, it will not kill them. ¹⁴ In fact, you might save their lives.

— 13 —

¹⁵ My son, it makes me happy when you make a wise decision. ¹⁶ It makes me feel good inside when you say the right things.

— 14 —

¹⁷ Never envy evil people, but always respect the Lord. ¹⁸ This will give you something to hope for that will not disappoint you.

— 15 —

¹⁹ So listen, my son, and be wise. Always be careful to follow the right path. ²⁰ Don’t make friends with people who drink too much wine and eat too much food. ²¹ Those who eat and drink too much become poor. They sleep too much and end up wearing rags.

— 16 —

²² Listen to your father. Without him, you would never have been born. Respect your mother, even when she is old. ²³ Truth, wisdom, learning, and understanding are worth paying money for. They are worth far too much to ever sell. ²⁴ The father of a good person is very happy. A wise child brings him joy. ²⁵ Make both of your parents happy. Give your mother that same joy.

— 17 —

²⁶ My son, listen closely to what I am saying. Let my life be your example. ²⁷ Prostitutes and bad women are a trap. They are like a deep well that you cannot escape. ²⁸ A bad woman waits for you like a thief, and she causes many men to be unfaithful to their wives.

— 18 —

^29-30 Who gets into fights and arguments? Who gets hurt for no reason and has red, bloodshot eyes? People who stay out too late drinking wine, staring into their strong drinks.

³¹ So be careful with wine. It is pretty and red as it sparkles in the cup. And it goes down so smoothly when you drink it. ³² But in the end, it will bite like a snake.

³³ Wine will cause you to see strange things and to say things that make no sense. ³⁴ When you lie down, you will think you are on a rough sea and feel like you are at the top of the mast. ³⁵ You will say, “They hit me, but I never felt it. They beat me, but I don’t remember it. Now I can’t wake up. I need another drink.”

Paul’s Work in Thessalonica

2 Brothers and sisters, you know that our visit to you was not a failure. ² Before we came to you, people in Philippi abused us with insults and made us suffer. You know all about that. And then, when we came to you, many people there caused trouble for us. But our God gave us the courage we needed to tell you his Good News. ³ When we encourage people to believe the Good News, it’s not out of wrong motives. We are not trying to trick or fool anyone. ⁴ No, we did it because God is the one who gave us this work. And this was only after he tested us and saw that we could be trusted to do it. So when we speak, we are only trying to please God, not anyone else. He is the one who can see what is in our hearts.

⁵ You know that we never tried to influence you by saying nice things about you. We were not trying to get your money. We had no greed to hide from you. God knows that this is true. ⁶ We were not looking for praise from people—not from you or anyone else.

⁷ When we were with you, as apostles of Christ we could have used our authority to make you help us. But we were very gentle^[a] with you. We were like a mother caring for her little children. ⁸ We loved you very much, so we were happy to share God’s Good News with you. But not only that—we were also happy to share even our own lives with you. ⁹ Brothers and sisters, I know that you remember how hard we worked. We worked night and day to support ourselves, so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we did the work of telling you God’s Good News.

¹⁰ When we were there with you believers, we were pure, honest, and without fault in the way we lived. You know, just as God does, that this is true. ¹¹ You know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his own children. ¹² We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we told you to live good lives for God. He calls you to be part of his glorious kingdom.

¹³ Also, we always thank God because of the way you accepted his message. You heard it and accepted it as God’s message, not our own. And it really is God’s message. And it works in you who believe. ¹⁴ Brothers and sisters, you are just like God’s churches in Judea.^[b] I mean that you were treated badly by your own people, just as those believers in Christ Jesus were treated badly by other Jews— ¹⁵ the same Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets. And they forced us to leave their country. They are not pleasing to God, and they are against everyone else. ¹⁶ And they are trying to stop us from teaching those who are not Jews. They don’t want them to be saved. But they are just adding more and more sins to the ones they already have. Now the time has come for them to suffer God’s anger.

Paul’s Desire to Visit Them Again

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters, we were separated from you for a short time. But even though we were not there, our thoughts were still with you. We wanted very much to see you, and we tried very hard to do this. ¹⁸ Yes, we wanted to come to you. I, Paul, tried more than once to come, but Satan stopped us. ¹⁹ You are our hope, our joy, and the crown we will be proud of when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. ²⁰ You bring us honor and joy.