M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
24 1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to bring you pure olive oil for an eternal flame 3-4 in the lampstand of pure gold which stands outside the veil that secludes the Holy of Holies. Each morning and evening Aaron shall supply it with fresh oil and trim the wicks. It will be an eternal flame before the Lord from generation to generation.
5-8 “Every Sabbath day the High Priest shall place twelve loaves of bread in two rows upon the gold table that stands before the Lord. These loaves shall be baked from finely ground flour, using a fifth of a bushel for each. Pure frankincense shall be sprinkled along each row. This will be a memorial offering made by fire to the Lord, in memory of his everlasting covenant with the people of Israel. 9 The bread shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons, in a place set apart for the purpose. For these are offerings made by fire to the Lord under a permanent law of God and are most holy.”
10 Out in the camp one day, a young man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian got into a fight with one of the men of Israel. 11 During the fight the Egyptian man’s son[a] cursed God, and was brought to Moses for judgment. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.) 12 He was put in jail until the Lord would indicate what to do with him.
13-14 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take him outside the camp and tell all who heard him to lay their hands upon his head; then all the people are to execute him by stoning. 15-16 And tell the people of Israel that anyone who curses his God must pay the penalty: he must die. All the congregation shall stone him; this law applies to the foreigner as well as to the Israelite who blasphemes the name of Jehovah. He must die.
17 “Also, all murderers must be executed. 18 Anyone who kills an animal that isn’t his[b] shall replace it. 19 The penalty for injuring anyone is to be injured in exactly the same way: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever anyone does to another shall be done to him.
21 “To repeat, whoever kills an animal must replace it, and whoever kills a man must die. 22 You shall have the same law for the foreigner as for the home-born citizen, for I am Jehovah your God.”
23 So they took the youth out of the camp and stoned him until he died, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
31 Lord, I trust in you alone. Don’t let my enemies defeat me. Rescue me because you are the God who always does what is right. 2 Answer quickly when I cry to you; bend low and hear my whispered plea.[a] Be for me a great Rock of safety from my foes. 3 Yes, you are my Rock and my fortress; honor your name by leading me out of this peril. 4 Pull me from the trap my enemies have set for me. For you alone are strong enough.[b] 5-6 Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have rescued me, O God who keeps his promises. I worship only you; how you hate all those who worship idols, those imitation gods. 7 I am radiant with joy because of your mercy, for you have listened to my troubles and have seen the crisis in my soul. 8 You have not handed me over to my enemy but have given me open ground in which to maneuver.
9-10 O Lord, have mercy on me in my anguish. My eyes are red from weeping; my health is broken from sorrow. I am pining away with grief; my years are shortened, drained away because of sadness. My sins have sapped my strength; I stoop with sorrow and with shame.[c] 11 I am scorned by all my enemies and even more by my neighbors and friends. They dread meeting me and look the other way when I go by. 12 I am forgotten like a dead man, like a broken and discarded pot. 13 I heard the lies about me, the slanders of my enemies. Everywhere I looked I was afraid, for they were plotting against my life.
14-15 But I am trusting you, O Lord. I said, “You alone are my God; my times are in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. 16 Let your favor shine again upon your servant; save me just because you are so kind! 17 Don’t disgrace me, Lord, by not replying when I call to you for aid. But let the wicked be shamed by what they trust in; let them lie silently in their graves, 18 their lying lips quieted at last—the lips of these arrogant men who are accusing honest men of evil deeds.”
19 Oh, how great is your goodness to those who publicly declare that you will rescue them. For you have stored up great blessings for those who trust and reverence you.
20 Hide your loved ones in the shelter of your presence, safe beneath your hand, safe from all conspiring men. 21 Blessed is the Lord, for he has shown me that his never-failing love protects me like the walls of a fort! 22 I spoke too hastily when I said, “The Lord has deserted me,” for you listened to my plea and answered me.
23 Oh, love the Lord, all of you who are his people; for the Lord protects those who are loyal to him, but harshly punishes all who haughtily reject him. 24 So cheer up! Take courage if you are depending on the Lord.
7 A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume.
The day one dies is better than the day he is born! 2 It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and it is a good thing to think about it while there is still time. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. 4 Yes, a wise man thinks much of death, while the fool thinks only of having a good time now.
5 It is better to be criticized by a wise man than to be praised by a fool! 6 For a fool’s compliment is as quickly gone as paper in fire, and it is silly to be impressed by it.
7 The wise man is turned into a fool by a bribe; it destroys his understanding.
8 Finishing is better than starting! Patience is better than pride! 9 Don’t be quick-tempered—that is being a fool.
10 Don’t long for “the good old days,” for you don’t know whether they were any better than these!
11 To be wise is as good as being rich; in fact, it is better. 12 You can get anything by either wisdom or money, but being wise has many advantages.
13 See the way God does things and fall into line. Don’t fight the facts of nature.[a] Who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14 Enjoy prosperity whenever you can, and when hard times strike, realize that God gives one as well as the other—so that everyone will realize that nothing is certain in this life.
15-17 In this silly life I have seen everything, including the fact that some of the good die young and some of the wicked live on and on. So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either—don’t be a fool! Why should you die before your time?
18 Tackle every task that comes along, and if you fear God, you can expect his blessing.
19 A wise man is stronger than the mayors of ten big cities! 20 And there is not a single man in all the earth who is always good and never sins.
21-22 Don’t eavesdrop! You may hear your servant cursing you! For you know how often you yourself curse others!
23 I have tried my best to be wise. I declared, “I will be wise,” but it didn’t work. 24 Wisdom is far away and very difficult to find. 25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and the reason for things . . . to prove to myself the wickedness of folly and that foolishness is madness.
26 A prostitute[b] is more bitter than death. May it please God that you escape from her, but sinners don’t evade her snares.
27-28 This is my conclusion, says the Preacher. Step by step I came to this result after researching in every direction: One tenth of one percent of the men I interviewed could be said to be wise, but not one woman!
29 And I found that though God has made men upright, each has turned away to follow his own downward road.
3 You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad. 3 They will be hardheaded and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality. They will be rough and cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good. 4 They will betray their friends; they will be hotheaded, puffed up with pride, and prefer good times to worshiping God. 5 They will go to church,[a] yes, but they won’t really believe anything they hear. Don’t be taken in by people like that.
6 They are the kind who craftily sneak into other people’s homes and make friendships with silly, sin-burdened women and teach them their new doctrines. 7 Women of that kind are forever following new teachers, but they never understand the truth. 8 And these teachers fight truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. They have dirty minds, warped and twisted, and have turned against the Christian faith.
9 But they won’t get away with all this forever. Someday their deceit will be well known to everyone, as was the sin of Jannes and Jambres.
10 But you know from watching me that I am not that kind of person. You know what I believe and the way I live and what I want. You know my faith in Christ and how I have suffered. You know my love for you, and my patience. 11 You know how many troubles I have had as a result of my preaching the Good News. You know about all that was done to me while I was visiting in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, but the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and those who decide to please Christ Jesus by living godly lives will suffer at the hands of those who hate him. 13 In fact, evil men and false teachers will become worse and worse, deceiving many, they themselves having been deceived by Satan.
14 But you must keep on believing the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know that you can trust those of us who have taught you. 15 You know how, when you were a small child, you were taught the holy Scriptures; and it is these that make you wise to accept God’s salvation by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 The whole Bible[b] was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. 17 It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.