M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Foods That Could Be Eaten

11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals on the earth. ³ You may eat any animal that has hard and divided feet and chews its food again. ⁴ But among those which chew their food again or have feet that are hard and divided, do not eat the camel. For it chews its food again, but does not have feet that are hard and divided. It is unclean to you. ⁵ Do not eat the rock badger. For it chews its food again, but does not have feet that are hard and divided. It is unclean to you. ⁶ Do not eat the rabbit. For it chews its food again, but does not have feet that are hard and divided. It is unclean to you. ⁷ And do not eat the pig. For it has feet that are hard and divided, but it does not chew its food again. It is unclean to you. ⁸ Do not eat their flesh or touch their dead bodies. They are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘These you may eat, of all that are in the water. You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, in the seas or in the rivers. ¹⁰ But whatever is in the seas and rivers that does not have fins and scales, among all the living things moving in the water, are to be hated by you. ¹¹ You will hate them. You may not eat their meat, and you will hate their dead bodies. ¹² Whatever in the water does not have fins and scales will be hated by you.

¹³ ‘These you will hate among the birds. They are hated and not to be eaten: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹⁴ the kite, every kind of falcon, ¹⁵ every kind of raven, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, every kind of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the big owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the pelican, the vulture that eats dead flesh, ¹⁹ the stork, every kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All bugs with wings and that walk on all fours are to be hated by you. ²¹ But you may eat, among all the bugs with wings and that walk on all fours, those which have legs above their feet that allow them to jump on the ground. ²² You may eat every kind of locust, every kind of destroying locust, every kind of cricket, and every kind of grasshopper. ²³ But you are to hate all other bugs with wings and four feet.

²⁴ ‘If you touch these you will be unclean. Whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ²⁵ And whoever picks up any of their dead bodies will wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. ²⁶ Every animal that has a parted foot but not a divided foot, or that does not eat its food again, is unclean to you. Whoever touches them will be unclean. ²⁷ Whatever walks on its soft feet, among all the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ²⁸ And he who picks up their dead bodies will wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. They are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These animals that move on the earth are unclean to you: the mole, the mouse, every kind of big lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹ These animals that move on the earth are unclean to you. Whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ³² And anything on which one of them may fall when they are dead will be unclean. Each piece of wood or clothing or skin or bag or anything used as you work, must be put in water. It will be unclean until evening. Then it will be clean. ³³ If any falls into a clay pot, whatever is in the pot will be unclean. You should break the pot. ³⁴ Any food that could be eaten but has water from such a pot on it will be unclean. And anything which could be drunk from any such pot will be unclean. ³⁵ Everything on which part of their dead body may fall will be unclean. A stove or a place for pots must be broken. They are unclean to you. ³⁶ But a well or a place holding water will be clean. But whoever touches a dead body will be unclean. ³⁷ If a part of their dead body falls on any seed which is to be planted, it is clean. ³⁸ But if water is put on the seed, and a body falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘If one of the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its dead body will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰ He who eats some of the dead body will wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And he who picks up its dead body will wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ ‘Anything that moves around on the ground in large numbers is hated and is not to be eaten. ⁴² You should not eat whatever moves on its stomach, or goes on four feet, or has many feet, among all the things that move around on the ground in large numbers. For they are hated. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves unclean by any of the small living things that move together on the ground, so you become unclean. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. So set yourselves apart, and be holy. For I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean with any of the small living things that move together in large numbers on the ground. ⁴⁵ For I am the Lord Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. So be holy, because I am holy.’”

⁴⁶ This is the Law of the animal, the bird, every living thing that moves in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. ⁴⁷ It is so you know the difference between those that are clean and those that are unclean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.

Women after Childbirth

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When a woman gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days as during her time each month. ³ On the eighth day the child is to go through the religious act of becoming a Jew. ⁴ The mother will be unclean for thirty-three days, until her blood stops flowing. She will not touch any holy thing or go into the holy place, until the days for making her clean are finished. ⁵ If she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks, as during the time she is unclean each month. She will be unclean for sixty-six days, until her blood stops flowing.

⁶ ‘When the days for making her clean are finished, for a son or for a daughter, she will bring her gifts to the religious leader at the door of the meeting tent. She will bring a one year old lamb for a burnt gift, and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin gift. ⁷ Then he will give it to the Lord and pay for her sins. She will be made clean from the flow of her blood. This is the Law for her who gives birth to a son or daughter. ⁸ But if she does not have enough money for a lamb, then she will take two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt gift and the other for a sin gift. The religious leader will pay for her sins and she will be clean.’”

Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? ² How long must I plan what to do in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will those who hate me rise above me?

³ Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death. ⁴ Or the one who hates me will say, “I have power over him.” And those who hate me will be happy when I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted in Your loving-kindness. My heart will be full of joy because You will save me. ⁶ I will sing to the Lord, because He has been good to me.

Sinful Men

14 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are sinful and their actions are sinful. There is no one who does good. ² The Lord has looked down from heaven on the sons of men, to see if there are any who understand and look for God. ³ They have all turned aside. Together they have become bad. There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴ Will those who sin never learn? They eat up my people like they eat bread. They do not call on the Lord. ⁵ There they are in much fear. For God is with the people of this day who do what is right and good. ⁶ You would put to shame the planning of the poor. But the Lord keeps him safe.

⁷ O, that it would come out of Zion that Israel would be saved! When the Lord returns His people to their land, Jacob will be full of joy and Israel will be glad.

26 Like snow in summer and like rain at gathering time, so honor is not right for a fool.

² Like a sparrow in its traveling, like a swallow in its flying, so bad words said against someone without reason do not come to rest.

³ A whip is for the horse, leather ropes are for the donkey, and a stick is for the back of fools.

⁴ Do not answer a fool by his foolish ways, or you will be like him.

⁵ Answer a fool in the way he has earned by his foolish acts, so he will not be wise in his own eyes.

⁶ He who sends a letter by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and brings trouble upon himself.

⁷ A wise saying in the mouth of fools is like the legs on a man who cannot walk.

⁸ He who gives honor to a fool is like one who ties a stone in a sling.

⁹ A wise saying in the mouth of fools is like a thorn that goes into the hand of a man who drinks too much.

¹⁰ He who hires a fool or hires those who pass by is like a man who uses a bow to hurt everyone.

¹¹ A fool who does his foolish act again is like a dog that turns back to what he has thrown up.

¹² Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³ The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the way! There is a lion in the streets!”

¹⁴ As a door turns, so does the lazy man on his bed.

¹⁵ The lazy man buries his hand in the dish. It makes him tired to bring it to his mouth again.

¹⁶ The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can give a wise answer.

¹⁷ He who passes by and has a part in someone else’s fight is like one who takes a dog by the ears.

¹⁸ Like a crazy man who throws pieces of burning wood and arrows of death, ¹⁹ so is the man who fools his neighbor with a lie, and says, “I was only joking.”

²⁰ When there is no wood, the fire goes out. Where there is no one telling secret stories about people, arguing stops.

²¹ An arguing man makes fights worse. He is like coals to burning wood and wood to a fire.

²² The words of one who tells secret things about people are like good-tasting bites of food. They go down into the inside parts of the body.

²³ Burning lips and a sinful heart are like a pot covered with silver waste.

²⁴ He who hates covers it up with his lips, but stores up false ways in his heart. ²⁵ When he speaks with kindness, do not believe him, for there are seven things that are hated in his heart. ²⁶ Even if his hate is covered with false ways, his sin will be found out in front of the great meeting.

²⁷ He who digs a deep hole will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it return upon him.

²⁸ A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a mouth that speaks false words destroys.

Watch for the Lord to Come Again

5 You do not need anyone to write to tell you when and at what kind of times these things will happen. ² You know for sure that the day the Lord comes back to earth will be as a robber coming in the night. ³ When they say, “Everything is fine and safe,” then all at once they will be destroyed. It will be like pain that comes on a woman when a child is born. They will not be able to get away from it. ⁴ But you are not in darkness, Christian brothers. That day will not surprise you as a robber would. ⁵ For you are children of the light and of the day. We are not of darkness or of night. ⁶ Keep awake! Do not sleep like others. Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening. ⁷ People sleep at night. Those who get drunk do it at night. ⁸ Because we are men of the day, let us keep our minds awake. Let us cover our chests with faith and love. Let us cover our heads with the hope of being saved. ⁹ God planned to save us from the punishment of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not plan for us to suffer from His anger. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, dead or alive, we will be with Him. ¹¹ So comfort each other and make each other strong as you are already doing.

Christian Living

¹² We ask you, Christian brothers, to respect those who work among you. The Lord has placed them over you and they are your teachers. ¹³ You must think much of them and love them because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

¹⁴ We ask you, Christian brothers, speak to those who do not want to work. Comfort those who feel they cannot keep going on. Help the weak. Understand and be willing to wait for all men. ¹⁵ Do not let anyone pay back for the bad he received. But look for ways to do good to each other and to all people.

¹⁶ Be full of joy all the time. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not try to stop the work of the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Do not laugh at those who speak for God. ²¹ Test everything and do not let good things get away from you. ²² Keep away from everything that even looks like sin.

²³ May the God of peace set you apart for Himself. May every part of you be set apart for God. May your spirit and your soul and your body be kept complete. May you be without blame when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. ²⁴ The One Who called you is faithful and will do what He promised. ²⁵ Christian brothers, pray for us. ²⁶ Greet all the Christians with a kiss of holy love. ²⁷ I tell you to have this letter read to all the Christians. ²⁸ May you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus Christ.