M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Holiness of the Priests

21 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘^(A)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ^2 (B)except for his ^[a]blood relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, ³ also for his virgin sister, who is near to him ^[b]because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself as a ^[c]relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ^5 (C)They shall not make any baldness on their heads ^(D)nor shave off the edges of their beards ^(E)nor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and ^(F)not profane the name of their God, for they bring near the offerings ^[d]to Yahweh by fire, ^(G)the food of their God; so they shall be holy. ^7 (H)They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸ Therefore, you shall set him apart as holy, for he brings near ^(I)the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I Yahweh, who makes you holy, am holy. ^9 (J)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^[e]who has been ordained to wear the garments, ^(K)shall not ^[f]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ^11 (L)nor shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; ^12 (M)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^(N)the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Yahweh. ¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity. ^14 (O)A widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife, ¹⁵ so that he will not profane his seed among his people; for I am Yahweh who makes him holy.’”

¹⁶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your seed throughout their generations who has a defect shall come near to offer the ^(P)food of his God. ^18 (Q)For no one who has a defect shall come near: a blind man or a lame man or he who has a ^[g](R)disfigured face or any deformed limb, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a ^[h]defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or ^(S)crushed testicles. ²¹ No man among the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to bring near the offerings to Yahweh by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not approach to bring near ^(T)the food of his God. ²² He may eat ^(U)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, ²³ only he shall not go in to the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Give Justice to Me, O Yahweh

Of David.

Yahweh Is My Light and My Salvation

Of David.

The Tears of the Oppressed

4 Then I looked again at all the acts of ^(A)oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had ^(B)no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. ² So ^(C)I lauded the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. ³ But ^(D)better off than both of them is the one who never has been, who has never seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

⁴ I have seen that every labor and every ^(E)success of the work is the result of jealousy between a man and his neighbor. This too is ^[a](F)vanity and striving after wind. ⁵ The fool ^(G)folds his hands in embrace and ^(H)consumes his own flesh. ⁶ One hand full of rest is ^(I)better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

⁷ Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. ⁸ There was a certain man without a second man, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, ^(J)his eyes were not satisfied with riches—“And ^(K)for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of good?” This too is vanity, and it is a ^(L)grievous endeavor.

⁹ Two are better than one because they have good wages for their labor. ¹⁰ For if ^[b]either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not a second one to lift him up. ¹¹ Furthermore, if two lie down together they ^[c]keep warm, but ^(M)how can one be warm alone? ¹² And if ^[d]one can overpower him who is alone, two can stand against him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

¹³ A ^(N)poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive ^[e]warning. ¹⁴ For he has come ^(O)out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom. ¹⁵ I have seen all the living who walk about under the sun go along with the second lad who stands in place of him. ¹⁶ There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be glad with him, for this too is ^(P)vanity and striving after wind.

Instructions to Those Who Serve

6 ^(A)All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so ^(B)that the name of God and our doctrine will not be ^[a]slandered. ² But those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are ^(C)brothers, but must serve them all the more, because those who ^[b]partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. ^(D)Teach and exhort these things.

³ If anyone ^(E)teaches a different doctrine and does not ^[c]agree with ^(F)sound words—those of our Lord Jesus Christ—and with the doctrine ^(G)conforming to godliness, ⁴ he is ^(H)conceited, understanding nothing but ^[d]having a morbid interest in ^(I)controversial questions and ^(J)disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction between ^(K)men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who ^(L)suppose that ^[e]godliness is a means of gain. ^6 (M)But godliness actually is a means of ^(N)great gain, when accompanied by ^(O)contentment. ⁷ For ^(P)we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸ And if we ^(Q)have food and covering, with these we shall be content. ^9 (R)But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and ^(S)a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For ^(T)the love of money is a root of all ^[f]sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have ^(U)wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹ But you, O ^(V)man of God, ^(W)flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, ^(X)faith, ^(Y)love, ^[g]perseverance, gentleness. ^12 (Z)Fight the good fight of ^(AA)faith. ^(AB)Take hold of the eternal life ^(AC)to which you were called, and you made the good ^(AD)confession in the presence of ^(AE)many witnesses. ^13 (AF)I charge you in the presence of God, who ^[h]gives life to all things, and of ^(AG)Christ Jesus, who testified the ^(AH)good confession ^(AI)before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the ^(AJ)appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which He will ^[i]bring about at ^(AK)the proper time—He who is ^(AL)the blessed and ^(AM)only Sovereign, ^(AN)the King of ^[j]kings and ^(AO)Lord of ^[k]lords, ^16 (AP)who alone has immortality and ^(AQ)dwells in unapproachable light, ^(AR)whom no man has seen or can see. ^(AS)To Him be honor and eternal might! Amen.

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in ^(AT)this present age ^(AU)not to be haughty or to ^(AV)set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, ^(AW)who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in ^(AX)good ^[l]works, ^(AY)to be generous and ready to share, ^19 (AZ)storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may ^(BA)take hold of that which is life indeed.

²⁰ O ^(BB)Timothy, guard ^(BC)what has been entrusted to you, turning aside from ^(BD)godless and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge— ²¹ which some, while professing, have ^(BE)gone astray ^[m]from ^(BF)the faith.

^(BG)Grace be with ^[n]you.