M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Sons of Aaron

3 These are the people of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ² The names of the sons of Aaron are Nadab the first-born, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the chosen religious leaders. Aaron set them apart to work as religious leaders. ⁴ But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they made a fire that was not holy to the Lord in the Desert of Sinai. And they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar worked as religious leaders during the life-time of their father Aaron.

The Levites Serve in the Meeting Tent

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Bring the family of Levi near. Set them in front of Aaron the religious leader so they may serve him. ⁷ They will do the duties for him and for all the people in front of the meeting tent. They will do the work around the meeting tent, ⁸ and will keep all the things that belong to the meeting tent. They will take care of the duties for the people of Israel as they work around the meeting tent. ⁹ You will give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are all given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰ Set apart Aaron and his sons to do the work of religious leaders. But if anyone comes near who is not a religious leader, he must be put to death.”

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “See, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born among the people of Israel. The Levites will be Mine. ¹³ For all the first-born are Mine. On the day that I killed all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I set apart for My own all the first-born in Israel, both man and animal. They will be Mine. I am the Lord.”

The Levites Are Numbered

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, ¹⁵ “Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses and by their families. Number every male a month old and older.” ¹⁶ So Moses numbered them just as he had been told by the word of the Lord. ¹⁷ The names of the sons of Levi are Gershon, Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸ The names of the sons of Gershon by their families are Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their families are Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ²⁰ The sons of Merari by their families are Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.

²¹ Of Gershon were the families of the Libnites and the Shimeites. These were the families of the Gershonites. ²² The number of their men, every male a month old and older, was 7,500. ²³ The families of the Gershonites were to set up their tents behind the meeting tent on the west side. ²⁴ The leader of the fathers’ houses of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. ²⁵ The sons of Gershon were to take care of the meeting tent, its covering, and the curtain for the door of the meeting tent. ²⁶ And they were to take care of the curtains for the door of the open space, and all curtains around the meeting tent and the altar and their ropes. They did all the work having to do with them.

²⁷ Of Kohath were the families of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites. These were the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸ The number of every male a month old and older was 8,600. They did the duties of the holy place. ²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath were to set up their tents on the south side of the meeting tent. ³⁰ The leader of the fathers’ houses of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹ They took care of the special box with the Law, and the table, the lamp-stand, the altars, the things used in the holy place, and the curtain. They did all the work having to do with them. ³² Eleazar, the son of Aaron the religious leader, was the head of the leaders of Levi. He watched over those who did the duties of the holy place.

³³ Of Merari were the families of the Mahlites and the Mushites. These were the families of Merari. ³⁴ The number of their men, every male a month old and older, was 6,200. ³⁵ The leader of the fathers’ houses of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to set up their tents on the north side of the meeting tent. ³⁶ The duties given to the sons of Merari were to take care of the parts made of wood of the meeting tent, its cross pieces, its pillars, its bases, and all the pieces that had to do with them. They took care of all these things, ³⁷ and of the pillars around the open space and their bases and their nails and their ropes.

³⁸ Moses and Aaron and his sons were to set up their tents on the east side in front of the meeting tent, toward the sunrise. They did the duties of the meeting tent, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel. But the one who came near who was not a religious leader was to be put to death. ³⁹ The number of all the Levite men a month old and older, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by their families as the Lord told them, was 22,000.

Levites Take the Place of First-Born Sons

⁴⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel a month old and older. Write down their names. ⁴¹ Take the Levites for Me, instead of all the first-born among the sons of Israel. I am the Lord. And take the cattle of the Levites instead of all the first-born among the cattle of the people of Israel.” ⁴² So Moses numbered all the first-born among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had told him. ⁴³ The number of names of all the first-born males a month old and older was 22,273.

⁴⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Take the Levites instead of all the first-born sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites. The number of the Levites will be Mine. I am the Lord. ⁴⁶ There are 273 first-born of the sons of Israel, who are more in number than the Levites. You must pay the price for each of them. ⁴⁷ Take five pieces of silver for each, by the weight of silver agreed upon for the meeting tent. ⁴⁸ Give the money, the price of those who are more in number than the Levites, to Aaron and his sons.” ⁴⁹ So Moses took the money to pay for those who were more in number than the Levites. ⁵⁰ He took the money from the first-born sons of Israel, by the weight agreed upon for the meeting tent. He took 1,365 pieces of silver. ⁵¹ Then Moses gave the money to Aaron and his sons, just as the Lord had told Moses by His Word.

A Safe Place for Those Who Trust in the Lord

37 Do not trouble yourself because of sinful men. Do not want to be like those who do wrong. ² For they will soon dry up like the grass. Like the green plant they will soon die. ³ Trust in the Lord, and do good. So you will live in the land and will be fed. ⁴ Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it. ⁶ He will make your being right and good show as the light, and your wise actions as the noon day.

⁷ Rest in the Lord and be willing to wait for Him. Do not trouble yourself when all goes well with the one who carries out his sinful plans. ⁸ Stop being angry. Turn away from fighting. Do not trouble yourself. It leads only to wrong-doing. ⁹ For those who do wrong will be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord will be given the earth. ¹⁰ A little while, and the sinful man will be no more. You will look for his place, and he will not be there. ¹¹ But those who have no pride will be given the earth. And they will be happy and have much more than they need.

¹² The sinful man plans against him who is right with God. And he grinds his teeth at him. ¹³ The Lord laughs at him because He sees his day is coming. ¹⁴ The sinful have taken up their sword and their bow, to bring down the poor and those in need, and to kill those whose ways are right. ¹⁵ Their sword will cut into their own heart, and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶ The few things that the man right with God has is better than the riches of many sinful men. ¹⁷ For the arms of the sinful will be broken. But the Lord holds up those who are right with Him. ¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of those who are without blame. And what is theirs will last forever. ¹⁹ They will not be ashamed in the time of trouble. And in days when there is no food they will have enough. ²⁰ But the sinful will be lost forever. Those who hate the Lord will be like the beauty of the fields. They will be gone. Like smoke they will be gone. ²¹ The sinful ask for something, but do not return it. But those who are right with God are kind and give. ²² For those who are made happy by Him will be given the land. But those who are being punished by Him will be cut off.

²³ The steps of a good man are led by the Lord. And He is happy in his way. ²⁴ When he falls, he will not be thrown down, because the Lord holds his hand. ²⁵ I have been young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the man who is right with God left alone, or his children begging for bread. ²⁶ All day long he is kind and lets others use what he has. And his children make him happy.

²⁷ Turn from sin, and do good, so you will live forever. ²⁸ For the Lord loves what is fair and right. He does not leave the people alone who belong to Him. They are kept forever. But the children of the sinful will be cut off. ²⁹ Those who are right with God will be given the land, and live on it forever. ³⁰ The mouth of the man who is right with God speaks wisdom. And his tongue speaks what is fair and right. ³¹ The Law of his God is in his heart. His steps do not leave it. ³² The sinful lie in wait for the man who is right with God, and want to kill him. ³³ The Lord will not leave him in his power. He will not let him be found guilty when he is judged. ³⁴ Wait for the Lord. Keep His way. And He will give you a high place to receive the land. When the sinful are cut off, you will see it.

³⁵ I have seen a very sinful man spreading himself like a green tree in its home land. ³⁶ Then he passed away and was no more. I looked for him. But he could not be found. ³⁷ Look at the man without blame. And watch the man who is right and good. For the man of peace will have much family to follow him. ³⁸ But all the sinners will be destroyed. The family of the sinful will be cut off. ³⁹ But the saving of those who are right with God is from the Lord. He is their strength in time of trouble. ⁴⁰ The Lord helps them and takes them out of trouble. He takes them away from the sinful, and saves them, because they go to Him for a safe place.

1 The Song of Songs, the most beautiful of them all, which is Solomon’s.

The First Song

The Woman

² “May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine. ³ Your oils have a pleasing smell. Your name is like oil poured out. So the young women love you. ⁴ Take me away with you, and let us run together. The king has brought me into his room.

“We will have joy and be glad because of you. We will praise your love more than wine. They are right to love you.

⁵ “I am dark but beautiful, O people of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. ⁶ Do not look hard at me because I am dark, for the sun has burned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me, and made me take care of the grape-fields. But I have not taken care of my own grape-field. ⁷ Tell me, O you whom my soul loves. In what field do you feed your flock? Where do your sheep lie down at noon? Why should I need to look for you beside the flocks of your friends?”

King Solomon

⁸ “If you do not know, most beautiful among women, follow the path of the flock. And let your young goats eat in the field beside the tents of the shepherds.

⁹ “To me, my love, you are like my horse among the war-wagons of Pharaoh. ¹⁰ Your face is beautiful with the objects you wear, and your neck with the beautiful chain around it. ¹¹ We will make objects of gold and silver for you.”

The Woman

¹² “While the king was at his table, my perfume gave out its smell. ¹³ My loved one is like a jar of perfume to me, who lies all night between my breasts. ¹⁴ My loved one is to me like many henna flowers, in the grape-fields of Engedi.”

King Solomon

¹⁵ “How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves.”

The Woman

¹⁶ “How beautiful you are, my love, and so pleasing! Our bed is green. ¹⁷ The pillars of our house are cedars. The pieces on our roof are pine.

God Speaks Through His Son

1 Long ago God spoke to our early fathers in many different ways. He spoke through the early preachers. ² But in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son. God gave His Son everything. It was by His Son that God made the world. ³ The Son shines with the shining-greatness of the Father. The Son is as God is in every way. It is the Son Who holds up the whole world by the power of His Word. The Son gave His own life so we could be clean from all sin. After He had done that, He sat down on the right side of God in heaven.

The Son Was Greater Than the Angels

⁴ The Son of God was made greater and better than the angels. God gave Him a greater name than theirs. ⁵ God did not say to any of His angels, “You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father.” ^(A) And He did not say to any angel, “I will be a Father to Him. He will be a Son to Me.” ^{(B) 6} But when God brought His first-born Son, Jesus, into the world, He said, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” ⁷ He said this about the angels, “He makes His angels to be winds. He makes His servants a burning fire.” ^{(C) 8} But about His Son, He says, “O God, Your throne will last forever. Whatever You say in Your nation is right and good. ⁹ You have loved what is right. You have hated what is wrong. That is why God, Your God, has chosen You. He has poured over You the oil of joy more than over anyone else.” ^{(D) 10} He said also, “Lord, You made the earth in the beginning. You made the heavens with Your hands. ¹¹ They will be destroyed but You will always be here. They will all become old just as clothes become old. ¹² You will roll up the heavens like a coat. They will be changed. But You are always the same. You will never grow old.” ^{(E) 13} God never said to any angel, “Sit at My right side, until I make those who hate You a place to rest Your feet.” ^{(F) 14} Are not all the angels spirits who work for God? They are sent out to help those who are to be saved from the punishment of sin.