M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Animals Pay the Price for Man’s Sin
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they had come near the Lord and died. 2 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he must not come just any time into the holy place inside the curtain, in front of the mercy-seat on the special box of the agreement or he will die. For I will show Myself in the cloud over the mercy-seat. 3 Only this way will Aaron go into the holy place, with a bull for a sin gift and a ram for a burnt gift. 4 He will put on the holy linen coat. And the linen under-clothing will be next to his body. He will be wearing the linen belt and the linen head-covering. These are holy clothing. He will wash his body in water and then dress himself. 5 He will take from the people of Israel two male goats for a sin gift and one ram for a burnt gift. 6 Then Aaron will give the bull as a sin gift for himself, to pay for the sins of himself and those in his house. 7 He will take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the door of the meeting tent. 8 Aaron will draw names for the two goats, choosing one for the Lord and the other to be sent away. 9 Then Aaron will bring the goat that was chosen for the Lord and give it as a sin gift. 10 But the goat that was chosen to be sent away will be brought alive before the Lord, for the taking away of sin. And it will be sent into the desert.
11 “Then Aaron will give the bull as the sin gift for himself, to pay for the sins of himself and those in his house. He will kill the bull as the sin gift for himself. 12 He will take a fire pan full of fire from the altar before the Lord, and enough fine, ground, sweet perfume to fill two hands. And he will bring it inside the curtain. 13 He will put the special perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud of the special perfume covers the mercy-seat on the special box of the agreement or he will die. 14 He will take some of the bull’s blood and put it with his finger on the east side of the mercy-seat. And with his finger he will put some of the blood seven times in front of the mercy-seat.
15 “Then he will kill the goat as the sin gift for the people. He will bring its blood inside the curtain, and do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood. He will put it on the seat and in front of the mercy-seat. 16 He will make the holy place, and also the meeting tent which is in the center of the camp, clean and pure because all the sins of the people make them unclean. 17 When he goes in to pay for sins in the holy place, no one will be in the meeting tent until he comes out. He will pay for the sins of himself, of those in his house, and of all the people of Israel. 18 Then he will go out to the altar before the Lord and make it clean and pure. He will take some of the bull’s blood and goat’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19 With his finger he will put some of the blood on the altar seven times so it will be clean. He will set it apart from what is unclean among the people of Israel.
20 “When he finishes making the holy place, the meeting tent and the altar free from sin, he will give the live goat. 21 Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and tell of all the sins and wrong-doings of the people of Israel. He will lay them upon the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man ready to help. 22 The goat will carry upon itself all their sins to a land where no one lives. Then the man will let the goat go free there.
23 “Aaron will come into the meeting tent. He will take off the linen clothing he put on when he went into the holy place. And he will leave them there. 24 He will wash his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes. Then he will come out and give his burnt gift and the people’s burnt gift, to pay for the sins of himself and the people. 25 He will burn the fat of the sin gift on the altar. 26 The man who let the goat carry away the sins will wash his clothes and wash his body with water. Then he may come among the tents. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin gift, whose blood was brought in to pay for sins in the holy place, will be taken away from the tents. Their skin, their flesh and their waste will be burned with fire. 28 Whoever burns them will wash his clothes and wash his body with water. Then he may come among the tents.
29 “This will be a Law forever for you. On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must get rid of your pride and not do any work, both those who live in the land and those who visit from another land. 30 For on this day your sin will be taken away and you will be clean. You will be made free from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is to be a special Day of Rest for you, that you may be free from pride. It is a Law forever. 32 The chosen religious leader who is set apart to work as religious leader in his father’s place will pay for the sin. He will put on the holy linen clothing 33 and make the holy place, the meeting tent and the altar free from sin. He will make the religious leaders and all the people free from sin also. 34 This will be a Law forever for you. The people of Israel must be made free from all their sins once a year.” And Moses did what the Lord told him to do.
The Works and the Word of God
19 The heavens are telling of the greatness of God and the great open spaces above show the work of His hands. 2 Day to day they speak. And night to night they show much learning. 3 There is no speaking and no words where their voice is not heard. 4 Their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun. 5 It is as a man soon to be married coming out of his room and as a strong man who is happy to run his race. 6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and it makes its way to the other end. Nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The Law of the Lord is perfect, giving new strength to the soul. The Law He has made known is sure, making the child-like wise. 8 The Laws of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The Word of the Lord is pure, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The Lord is always true and right in how He judges. 10 The Word of the Lord is worth more than gold, even more than much fine gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey straight from the comb. 11 And by them Your servant is told to be careful. In obeying them there is great reward.
12 Who can see his own mistakes? Forgive my sins that I do not see. 13 And keep Your servant from sinning by going my own way. Do not let these sins rule over me. Then I will be without blame. And I will not be found guilty of big sins. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in Your eyes, O Lord, my Rock and the One Who saves me.
The Wisdom of Agur
30 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh of Massa. The man says to Ithiel and Ucal:
2 For sure, I am more foolish than any man, and I do not have the understanding of a man. 3 I have not learned wisdom, and I do not know much about the Holy One. 4 Who has gone up into heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has gathered the waters in His coat? Who has put in place all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name? For sure you know!
5 Every word of God has been proven true. He is a safe-covering to those who trust in Him. 6 Do not add to His words, or He will speak strong words to you and prove you to be a liar.
7 Two things I have asked of You. Do not keep me from having them before I die: 8 Take lies and what is false far from me. Do not let me be poor or rich. Feed me with the food that I need. 9 Then I will not be afraid that I will be full and turn my back against You and say, “Who is the Lord?” And I will not be afraid that I will be poor and steal, and bring shame on the name of my God.
10 Do not speak against a slave while talking with his owner, or he may curse you and you will be found guilty.
11 There are those who curse their fathers, and do not honor their mothers. 12 There are people who are pure in their own eyes, but are not washed from their own dirt. 13 There is a kind, O, how proud are his eyes! His eyes are opened wide with pride. 14 There is a kind of man whose teeth are swords, whose jaws are like knives, who eat up those who are suffering from the earth, and those in need from among men.
15 The one who lives by the blood of another has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.” There are three things that are never filled, four that never say, “Enough”: 16 The place of the dead, the woman who cannot have children, the earth that is always thirsty for water, and fire that never says, “Enough.”
17 The eye that makes fun of a father and hates to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the young eagles.
18 There are three things which are too great for me, four which I do not understand: 19 The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship out at sea, and the way of a man with a woman.
20 This is the way of a woman who is not faithful in marriage: She eats and washes her mouth, and says, “I have done no wrong.”
21 Under three things the earth shakes, and under four it cannot stand: 22 Under a servant when he becomes king, under a fool when he is filled with food, 23 under a woman who is not loved when she gets a husband, and under a woman servant when she takes the place of the woman of the house.
24 There are four things that are small on the earth, but they are very wise: 25 The ants are not a strong people, but they store up their food in the summer. 26 The badgers are not a strong people, but they make their houses in the rocks. 27 The locusts have no king, but they go as an army. 28 You can take the lizard in your hands, but it is found in kings’ houses.
29 There are three things which have honor in their steps, even four which show honor in their walk: 30 The lion, which is powerful among wild animals and does not turn away from any, 31 the proud rooster, the male goat, and a king when his army is with him.
32 If you have been foolish in honoring yourself, or if you have planned wrong-doing, put your hand on your mouth. 33 Shaking milk makes butter, and hitting the nose brings blood. So fighting comes because of anger.
1 This letter is from Paul, a missionary of Jesus Christ. I am sent by God, the One Who saves, and by our Lord Jesus Christ Who is our hope. 2 I write to you, Timothy. You are my son in the Christian faith. May God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord give you His loving-favor and loving-kindness and peace.
Watch for False Teachers
3 When I left for the country of Macedonia, I asked you to stay in the city of Ephesus. I wanted you to stay there so you could tell those who are teaching what is not true to stop. 4 They should not listen to stories that are not true. It is foolish for them to try to learn more about their early fathers. These only bring more questions to their minds and do not make their faith in God stronger. 5 We want to see our teaching help you have a true love that comes from a pure heart. Such love comes from a heart that says we are not guilty and from a faith that does not pretend. 6 But some have turned away from these things. They have turned to foolish talking. 7 Some of them want to be teachers of the Law. But they do not know what they are talking about even if they act as if they do.
The Law Is Good
8 We know the Law is good when it is used the way God meant it to be used. 9 We must remember the Law is not for the person who is right with God. It is for those who do not obey anybody or anything. It is for the sinners who hate God and speak against Him. It is for those who kill their fathers and mothers and for those who kill other people. 10 It is for those who do sex sins and for people who do sex sins with their own sex. It is for people who steal other people and for those who lie and for those who promise not to lie, but do. It is for everything that is against right teaching. 11 The great Good News of our honored God is right teaching. God has trusted me to preach this Good News.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord for the power and strength He has given me. He trusted me and gave me His work to do. 13 Before He chose me, I talked bad about Christ. I made His followers suffer. I hurt them every way I could. But God had loving-kindness for me. I did not understand what I was doing for I was not a Christian then. 14 Then our Lord gave me much of His loving-favor and faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
15 What I say is true and all the world should receive it. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners from their sin and I am the worst sinner. 16 And yet God had loving-kindness for me. Jesus Christ used me to show how long He will wait for even the worst sinners. In that way, others will know they can have life that lasts forever also. 17 We give honor and thanks to the King Who lives forever. He is the One Who never dies and Who is never seen. He is the One Who knows all things. He is the only God. Let it be so.
The Good Fight of Faith
18 Timothy, my son, here is my word to you. Fight well for the Lord! God’s preachers told us you would. 19 Keep a strong hold on your faith in Christ. May your heart always say you are right. Some people have not listened to what their hearts say. They have done what they knew was wrong. Because of this, their faith in Christ was wrecked. 20 This happened to Hymenaeus and Alexander. I gave them over to Satan to teach them not to speak against God.
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