M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Religious Suppers

23 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘These are the special suppers of the Lord, which you will keep for holy meetings. These are My special suppers. ³ Work may be done for six days. But the seventh day is the Day of Rest, a holy meeting when you do no work at all. It is the Day of Rest to the Lord in all your homes.

The Supper of Bread without Yeast

⁴ ‘These are the special suppers of the Lord, the holy meetings you will keep at the right times. ⁵ On the fourteenth day of the first month in the evening begins the Lord’s religious gathering to remember how His people left Egypt. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Lord’s special supper of bread without yeast. For seven days you will eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day you will have a holy meeting. You will not do any hard work. ⁸ But you will give a gift by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy meeting. You will not do any hard work.’”

The Supper of First Fruits

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When you come into the land I am going to give you and gather its grain, bring some of the first fruits of your grain to the religious leader. ¹¹ He will wave the grain before the Lord for you to be received. The religious leader will wave it on the day after the Day of Rest. ¹² On the day when you wave the grain, you will give a perfect, one year old male lamb as a burnt gift to the Lord. ¹³ The grain gift with it will be one-fifth part of a basket of fine flour mixed with oil. It is a gift by fire to the Lord for a pleasing smell. And the drink gift with it will be a jar of wine. ¹⁴ Do not eat bread or dry grain or new grain until this same day, when you have brought the gift to your God. It is to be a Law forever for all your people in all your homes.

The Supper of Weeks

¹⁵ ‘Number seven full weeks from the day after the Day of Rest, from the day when you give the grain for the wave gift. There will be seven whole Days of Rest. ¹⁶ Number fifty days to the day after the seventh Day of Rest. Then give a new grain gift to the Lord. ¹⁷ Bring from your homes two loaves of bread for a wave gift, made of one-fifth part of a basket of fine flour. They will be made with yeast, as first-fruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ With the bread give seven one year old male lambs that are perfect, and one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt gift to the Lord, with their grain gift and their drink gift. It is a gift by fire with a pleasing smell to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then give one male goat for a sin gift and two male lambs one year old for a peace gift. ²⁰ The religious leader will wave them with the bread of the first-fruits as a wave gift before the Lord, with the two lambs. They will be holy to the Lord for the religious leader. ²¹ On this same day call together a holy meeting. Do no hard work. It is a Law forever in all your homes for all your people.

²² ‘When you gather the food of your land, do not pick all the way to the corners of your field. And do not gather the food that falls. Leave it for those in need and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Supper of Horns

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘On the first day of the seventh month, you will have a Day of Rest. It will be a day of remembering, made known by the blowing of horns, a holy meeting. ²⁵ Do not do any hard work. But give a gift by fire to the Lord.’”

A Day to Be Made Free from Sin

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “The tenth day of this seventh month is the day to be made free from sin. It will be a holy meeting for you. You will be without pride and give a gift by fire to the Lord.

²⁸ “Do no work on this day. For it is a day to be made free from sin, to be made free from your sin before the Lord your God. ²⁹ If there is any person who will not be free from his pride on this day, he will be kept away from his people. ³⁰ Whoever does any work on this day, I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ Do no work at all. It is a Law forever for all your people in all your homes. ³² It will be a Day of Rest for you. And you must be without pride. You will keep your Day of Rest from evening until evening on the ninth day of the month.”

Supper of Tents

³³ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the special supper of tents to the Lord. It will last seven days. ³⁵ A holy meeting will be on the first day. Do no hard work of any kind. ³⁶ Give a gift by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the eighth day have a holy meeting and give a gift by fire to the Lord. It is a special gathering. Do no hard work.

³⁷ ‘These are the special suppers, the holy meetings you will keep at the right times. They will be for giving to the Lord gifts by fire, burnt gifts and grain gifts, gifts of animals and drink gifts, each on its own day. ³⁸ These are to be added to the Days of Rest of the Lord, and your gifts, both those that are promised and your free-will gifts that you give to the Lord.

³⁹ ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the food of your land, you will have the special supper of the Lord for seven days. The first day and the eighth day will be Days of Rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day, you will take the leaves of beautiful trees, branches of trees with big leaves and of trees beside the river. And be full of joy before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You will keep it as a special supper to the Lord seven days in the year. It will be a Law forever for all your people. You will have it in the seventh month. ⁴² You will live in tents for seven days. All who were born in Israel will live in tents. ⁴³ So all your people to come may know that I had the people of Israel live in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” ⁴⁴ So Moses made known to the people of Israel the special suppers of the Lord.

Prayer of Thanks

30 I will lift You up, O Lord, for You have lifted me up. You have not let those who hate me stand over me in joy. ² O Lord my God, I cried to You for help and You healed me. ³ O Lord, You have brought me up from the grave. You have kept me alive, so that I will not go down into the deep. ⁴ Sing praise to the Lord, all you who belong to Him. Give thanks to His holy name. ⁵ For His anger lasts only a short time. But His favor is for life. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes with the new day.

⁶ As for me, when all was going well, I said, “I will never be moved.” ⁷ O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong. But when You hid Your face, I was troubled. ⁸ I cried to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for loving-kindness. ⁹ What good will come from my blood, if I go down to the grave? Will the dust thank You? Will it tell how You are faithful?

¹⁰ Hear, O Lord. And show me loving-kindness. O Lord, be my Helper. ¹¹ You have turned my crying into dancing.You have taken off my clothes made from hair, and dressed me with joy. ¹² So my soul may sing praise to You, and not be quiet. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

6 There is another bad thing which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard for men: ² God gives a man riches and many good things and honor, so that he has everything he wants. But He does not allow him to have joy from them, for a stranger has joy from them. This is for nothing, and is very bad. ³ If a man becomes the father of a hundred children and lives many years until he is very old, but he is not happy with good things, and is not buried as he should be, then I say that the child who dies before it is born is shown more favor than he. ⁴ For this child comes for nothing and goes into darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. ⁵ It never sees the sun and it never knows anything. It is better off than he. ⁶ Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not find joy in good things, do not all go to the same place?

⁷ All a man’s work is for his mouth, and yet his hunger is not filled. ⁸ For what is better for the wise man than for the fool? And what good does the poor man have who knows how to walk among the living? ⁹ What the eyes see is better than what there is a desire for. This also is for nothing, like trying to catch the wind.

¹⁰ Whatever has come to be has already been given a name. It is known what man is, and that he cannot argue with one who is stronger than he. ¹¹ The more words there are, the more they are worth nothing. What good is that to anyone? ¹² For who knows what is good for a man during his life, during the few years of his living for nothing? He will spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a man what will happen after he is gone under the sun?

Be a Good Soldier

2 So you, my son, be strong in the loving-favor of Christ Jesus. ² What you have heard me say in front of many people, you must teach to faithful men. Then they will be able to teach others also. ³ Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No soldier fighting in a war can take time to make a living. He must please the one who made him a soldier. ⁵ Anyone who runs in a race must follow the rules to get the crown. ⁶ A hard-working farmer should receive first some of what he gathers from the field. ⁷ Think about these things and the Lord will help you understand them.

⁸ Remember this! Jesus Christ, Who was born from the early family of David, was raised from the dead! This is the Good News I preach. ⁹ I suffer much and am in prison as one who has done something very bad. I am in chains, but the Word of God is not chained. ¹⁰ I suffer all things so the people that God has chosen can be saved from the punishment of their sin through Jesus Christ. Then they will have God’s shining-greatness that lasts forever. ¹¹ These things are true. If we die with Him, we will live with Him also. ¹² If we suffer and stay true to Him, then we will be a leader with Him. If we say we do not know Him, He will say He does not know us. ¹³ If we have no faith, He will still be faithful for He cannot go against what He is.

Foolish Talk

¹⁴ Tell your people about these things again. In the name of the Lord, tell them not to argue over words that are not important. It helps no one and it hurts the faith of those who are listening. ¹⁵ Do your best to know that God is pleased with you. Be as a workman who has nothing to be ashamed of. Teach the words of truth in the right way. ¹⁶ Do not listen to foolish talk about things that mean nothing. It only leads people farther away from God. ¹⁷ Such talk will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like this. ¹⁸ They have turned from the truth. They say the dead have already been raised. The faith of some people has been made weak because of such foolish talk. ¹⁹ But the truth of God cannot be changed. It says, “The Lord knows those who are His.” And, “Everyone who says he is a Christian must turn away from sin!”

²⁰ In a big house there are not only things made of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some are of more use than others. Some are used every day. ²¹ If a man lives a clean life, he will be like a dish made of gold. He will be respected and set apart for good use by the owner of the house.

²² Turn away from the sinful things young people want to do. Go after what is right. Have a desire for faith and love and peace. Do this with those who pray to God from a clean heart. ²³ Let me say it again. Have nothing to do with foolish talk and those who want to argue. It can only lead to trouble. ²⁴ A servant owned by God must not make trouble. He must be kind to everyone. He must be able to teach. He must be willing to suffer when hurt for doing good. ²⁵ Be gentle when you try to teach those who are against what you say. God may change their hearts so they will turn to the truth. ²⁶ Then they will know they had been held in a trap by the devil to do what he wanted them to do. But now they are able to get out of it.