M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
23 The Eternal One spoke to Moses regarding the holy days.
Eternal One: 2 Go, talk to the Israelites. Tell them that I have appointed certain feasts to be celebrated. You are to honor these times and declare them as sacred assemblies.
3 You have six days to do your ordinary work; but when the seventh day arrives, it is a Sabbath and must be a day of complete rest, a time for sacred assembly. No work is allowed. Wherever you live, celebrate the Sabbath in My honor.
4 Here are times I have appointed for sacred assemblies; you are to celebrate these feasts and declare them publicly at their appointed times. 5 In the spring on the fourteenth day of the first month, My Passover begins at first light. 6 When the fifteenth day arrives, you are to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in My honor.
For the next seven days, the only bread you are allowed to eat is unleavened bread. 7 On the first day of the feast, I want you to gather for a sacred assembly; you are not allowed to do any ordinary work. 8 On each of the seven days of the feast, present a fire-offering to Me. When the seventh day arrives, hold a sacred assembly; you are not allowed to do any ordinary work.
9 The Eternal One addressed Moses.
Eternal One: 10 Go, talk with the Israelites, and tell them that when you are settled in the land I am going to give you, and when you harvest there, you are to gather a bundle of stalks from the firstfruits of the barley harvest and present them to the priest. 11 On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will raise up the bundle of stalks and wave them before Me so that you will be accepted. 12 Also, on the day that the stalks are waved, you must present an unblemished, year-old male lamb to Me as a burnt offering. 13 The grain offering you bring with it is to be four quarts of the finest flour mixed with oil. The smoke of the fire-offering will rise and be a pleasant aroma to Me. Present it along with a drink offering of 2½ pints of wine. 14 Do not consume any bread, roasted grain, or any of the new harvest until this day when you have presented the offering to Me, your God. This directive stands for all time throughout your generations regardless of where you live.
15-16 From the day after the Sabbath when you presented the bundled stalks—the firstfruits of the barley harvest—as a wave offering to Me, count off seven whole weeks. Count to the day after the seventh Sabbath, 50 days; then I want you to bring a fresh grain offering to Me. 17 Bring two loaves of bread from wherever you live as a wave offering. The loaves are to be made with yeast from four quarts of the finest flour as the firstfruits to Me. 18 With the bread, I want you to offer seven unblemished, year-old male lambs, a bull from the herd, and two rams. These will serve as a burnt offering to Me, along with their grain offering and drink offerings; the smoke of this fire-offering will rise and be a pleasant aroma to Me. 19 You must also present one male goat as a purification offering and two year-old male lambs as a peace offering. 20 The priest will then lift them up along with the bread of the firstfruits and the two lambs as a wave offering before Me. These offerings, which are sacred to Me, will become the property of the priest. 21 On this day, you will make a proclamation and hold a sacred assembly. Refrain from doing any ordinary work. This directive stands for all time throughout your generations regardless of where you live.
22 Whenever you harvest the crops in your land, do not harvest all the way to the edges of the fields or pick up what was overlooked during harvest. Leave them for the poor and the strangers living with you. I am the Eternal your God.
23 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 24 Go, talk with the Israelites, and tell them to observe a day of Sabbath rest in the autumn on the first day of the seventh month. Commemorate this day and call together a sacred assembly by sounding the trumpets. 25 You must not do any ordinary work that day, but you are to bring a fire-offering to Me.
26 The Eternal One spoke to Moses regarding the Day of Atonement.
Eternal One: 27 The tenth day of the seventh month is set aside as the Day of Atonement. On that day, you must call together the people for a sacred assembly, humble and discipline yourselves by fasting, and bring a fire-offering to Me. 28 Refrain from doing any work on the Day of Atonement, for it is to be a day when you make offerings before Me, your God, that cover your sins. 29 If anyone does not humble and discipline himself on this day, he must be cut off from the community. 30 If anyone from your community works on this day, I will destroy him from the midst of the community. 31 You must not do any of the work you normally do. This directive stands for all time throughout your generations regardless of where you live. 32 This is to be a Sabbath Day, a day of complete rest, a day when you humble and discipline yourselves. When the ninth day of the month arrives, you are to honor this Sabbath from dusk till dusk.
Sin causes damage in ways we do not easily recognize. It damages our relationship with God, other people, and the rest of creation. But we should not forget that sin damages us too. We are damaged goods. The Day of Atonement provides the people of Israel with a regular opportunity to recognize how broken and flawed they are, to repent and turn to God, and to seek His healing and forgiveness.
33 The Eternal One said to Moses.
Eternal One: 34 Go, talk with the Israelites and tell them that when the fifteenth day of the seventh month arrives, they must celebrate the Feast of Booths to Me for seven days.
The Feast of Booths takes place after the fall harvest is in and the people can take some time off. In this feast, God’s people are called to remember how He provided for them, particularly how He provided for them when they wandered in the desert, living in tents or booths, for 40 years.
Eternal One: 35 The first day is to be a day devoted to sacred assembly, so refrain from doing any ordinary work. 36 Then for seven days, I want you to bring a fire-offering to Me. When the eighth day arrives, hold another sacred assembly and bring another fire-offering to Me. This is to be a festive gathering, and no one is allowed to do any of their normal work.
37 So these are the feasts that I have appointed. At these times, you are to call the people together for a sacred assembly and bring fire-offerings to Me—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings—each day will have its own offering. 38 These feasts and their offerings are in addition to My Sabbaths and other prescribed offerings, offerings accompanying a vow or a freewill offering.
39 When the fifteenth day of the seventh month arrives, after you have harvested the crops from the land, I want you to celebrate this feast of booths for seven days. Observe a day of complete rest on the first day and the eighth day. 40-41 On the first day, gather some branches from the beautiful trees in the area: palm fronds, limbs thick with leaves, and branches from the river willow. Celebrate and feast before Me, your God, for seven days. This directive stands for all time throughout your generations; celebrate it every year in the seventh month. 42 All native-born Israelites are to live in booths for seven days. 43 I want you to do this so that all present and future generations of your people remember that I sheltered the Israelites in booths like these after I led them out of Egypt. I am the Eternal One, your God.
Temporary shelters like these were used during harvest to protect their fields from animals and thieves.
44 Moses spoke to the Israelites about the Eternal One’s appointed feasts.
Psalm 30
A song of David. For the dedication of the temple.
1 I praise You, Eternal One. You lifted me out of that deep, dark pit
and denied my opponents the pleasure of rubbing in their success.
2 Eternal One, my True God, I cried out to You for help;
You mended the shattered pieces of my life.
3 You lifted me from the grave with a mighty hand,
gave me another chance,
and saved me from joining those in that dreadful pit.
4 Sing, all you who remain faithful!
Pour out your hearts to the Eternal with praise and melodies;
let grateful music fill the air and bless His name.
5 His wrath, you see, is fleeting,
but His grace lasts a lifetime.
The deepest pains may linger through the night,
but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.
6 When things were quiet and life was easy, I said in arrogance,
“Nothing can shake me.”
7 By Your grace, Eternal,
I thought I was as strong as a mountain;
But when You left my side and hid away,
I crumbled in fear.
8 O Eternal One, I called out to You;
I pleaded for Your compassion and forgiveness:
9 “I’m no good to You dead! What benefits come from my rotting corpse?
My body in the grave will not praise You.
No songs will rise up from the dust of my bones.
From dust comes no proclamation of Your faithfulness.
10 Hear me, Eternal Lord—please help me,
Eternal One—be merciful!”
11 You did it: You turned my deepest pains into joyful dancing;
You stripped off my dark clothing
and covered me with joyful light.
12 You have restored my honor. My heart is ready to explode, erupt in new songs!
It’s impossible to keep quiet!
Eternal One, my God, my Life-Giver, I will thank You forever.
6 Teacher: I have seen another injustice under the sun, one that is a real burden upon humanity. 2 Sometimes God gives money, possessions, and even honor, so that we have everything a person might desire; nothing is lacking. But then, for reasons God only knows, God does not allow him to enjoy the good gifts. Rather, a stranger ends up enjoying them. This, too, is fleeting; it’s a sickening evil. 3 If a person has one hundred children and lives for many years but finds no satisfaction in all of the good things that life brings and in the end doesn’t have a proper burial, I say that it would be better if that person had been stillborn 4 because the stillborn arrives in a fleeting breath and then goes nameless into the darkness mourned by no one and buried in an unmarked grave. 5 Though the child never sees the sun or knows anything, it still had more rest than the person who cannot enjoy what he has. 6 Even if a person were to live one thousand years twice over, but could find no satisfaction, don’t we all end up going to the same place?
The words, “it would be better if that person had been stillborn,” may shock the modern reader because it is hoped that no child is stillborn; believers pray for a good life for all of God’s creatures. But the writer of Ecclesiastes does not dwell on the fate of the stillborn; instead he contrasts the life of the person who finds no good in life with the fate of the child who never drew breath, never saw the sun, and never was given a name. Life is a gift from God, and the teacher admonishes his readers to find the good in that gift. Yes, sometimes life is not fair; yes, sometimes life deals harsh blows; yes, life slips away far too quickly. But as long as someone draws breath, he or she should find the good in that life.
Teacher: 7 As the saying goes, “All of our toil is food for our mouths.” We eat; we drink, and yet deep down we do not feel satisfied. 8 What good is it to be wise? Are the wise better off than fools? And what do the poor know that others do not when they conduct themselves before the public?[a] 9 It is better to enjoy what our eyes see than to long for what our roving appetites desire. This, too, is fleeting, like trying to embrace the wind.
10 Whatever exists has already been named. Human nature, as it is with its strengths and limitations, is already known. So no one dares to dispute with One so much stronger than he. 11 The more a person speaks, the more breath is fleeting; and what advantage do a lot of words bring us? 12 For who knows the best way for us to live during the few days of our fleeting lives? After all, we pass through them like shadows. For who can say what will happen under the sun after we are gone?
2 But as for you, my child, be empowered by the grace that is in Jesus, the Anointed One. 2 Whatever you heard me teach before an audience of witnesses, I want you to pass along to trustworthy people who have the ability to teach others too. 3 As a good soldier of Jesus the Anointed, be ready to suffer with me. 4 Remember that soldiers on active duty don’t get wrapped up in civilian matters because they want to satisfy those who recruited them. 5 Look at it another way: if someone competes as an athlete, he won’t win the race and be crowned with the wreath if he breaks the rules. 6 And the farmer who exhausts himself in the field should be the first to taste his harvest. 7 Think about what I am telling you, and let the Lord give you clarity on all of it.
Paul has mentored no one more privately and successfully than Timothy. Now he charges Timothy to pass the faith along to the next generation. Training leaders is priority one.
8 Remember Jesus the Anointed, raised from the dead, descended from David’s royal line. This is the crux of my good news! 9 This is why I suffer and why I am bound and chained like a lawbreaker. But God’s word is not in chains! 10 That’s why I endure everything for the sake of God’s chosen: so that they might experience salvation with lasting, eternal glory through Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. 11 Here’s a statement you can trust:
If we died with Him,
we will live with Him.
12 If we remain with Him,
we will reign alongside Him.
If we deny Him,
we will be denied by Him.
13 If we are unfaithful,
He remains faithful,
For He is not able to deny Himself.
14 Remind others about these things that I’m telling you. Warn them before God to stop their useless bickering over words. After all, splitting hairs does no good; it only ruins those forced to listen to their meritless arguments. 15 Timothy, do everything you can to present yourself to God as a man who is fully genuine, a worker unashamed of your mission, a guide capable of leading others along the correct path defined by the word of truth. 16 Stay away from ungodly babbling because it will only lead deeper into a godless lifestyle. 17 Once these empty voices start to speak, Timothy, they infect and spread; and soon the body is consumed with its cancer.[a] Hymenaeus and Philetus fell victim to it, 18 and they walked away from the truth by claiming that the day of resurrection has already arrived. They are clearly disrupting the faith of some who are not well grounded. 19 Regardless of what they do or say, God’s foundation is strong and firmly in place, etched with this seal: “The Lord knows the ones who belong to Him,”[b] and, “Everyone who invokes the name of the Lord ought to stop doing what they know to be wrong.”
20 Look, in the mansions of the rich and powerful you will find everything from silver and gold serving bowls to wooden containers and clay jars; some are used for special occasions—where honor is important—others are used for more mundane tasks. 21 So tell them, if they will clean up their lives and purify themselves from dishonorable teachings that lead people astray, then they can become honorable vessels, consecrated and useful to the Master, made ready for every good work He has in store.
22 Timothy, run away from youthful desires. Instead, direct your passion to chasing after righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord with pure hearts. 23 Excuse yourself from any conversations that turn into foolish and uninformed debates because you know they only provoke fights. 24 As the Lord’s slave, you shouldn’t exhaust yourself in bickering; instead, be gentle—no matter who you are dealing with—ready and able to teach, tolerant without resentment, 25 gently instructing those who stand up against you. Besides, the time may come when God grants them a change of heart[c] so that they can arrive at the full knowledge of truth. 26 And if they come to their senses, they can escape the devil’s snare and walk freed from his captivity and evil bidding.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.