M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Work of the Sons of Kohath
4 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Number the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi. Number them by their families, by the fathers’ houses, 3 from thirty years old and older, even to fifty years old. Number all who are able to do the work in the meeting tent. 4 This is the work of the sons of Kohath in the meeting tent to do with the most holy things. 5 When the people leave to move on, Aaron and his sons will go in and take down the curtain in front of the special box with the Law inside. And they will cover the special box with it. 6 Then they will lay a covering of badgers’ skins on it, and spread a pure blue cloth over that. And they will put in the long pieces of wood to carry it. 7 They will spread a blue cloth over the table of the bread before the Lord. They will put on it the plates, the dishes for special perfume, the pots, and the jars for the drink gift. And the bread will be on it always. 8 They will spread a red cloth over them, and cover that with badgers’ skins. And they will put in its long pieces of wood to carry it. 9 They will take a blue cloth and cover the lamp-stand for the light, with its lamps, its objects to put out the light, its dishes and all its pots of oil used for the light. 10 They will put the lamp-stand and all its objects in a covering of badgers’ skins. Then they will put it on the long pieces of wood used to carry it. 11 They will spread a blue cloth over the altar of gold, and cover it with badgers’ skins. And they will put in the long pieces of wood to carry it. 12 They will take all the things used for the work done in the meeting tent. They will put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins. And they will put them on the long pieces of wood to carry them. 13 Then they will take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They will put on it all the things used for the work done on the altar: the fire-holders, meat-hooks, objects for picking up the ashes, and the pots. Then they will spread a covering of badgers’ skins over it, and put in the long pieces of wood for carrying it. 15 Aaron and his sons will finish covering the holy objects and all the things of the meeting tent, as the people move on. After that the sons of Kohath will come to carry them. In this way they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the meeting tent which the sons of Kohath are to carry. 16 Eleazar the son of Aaron the religious leader will take care of the oil for the light, the special perfume, the grain gift which is always given, and the oil for holy use. He will watch over all the meeting tent and all that is in it, the holy place and its objects.”
17 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “Do not let the family group of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites. 19 But do this to them so they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects. Aaron and his sons must go in and give each of them their work and what they are to carry. 20 But they must not go in to see the holy objects even for a short time, or they will die.”
The Work of the Sons of Gershon
21 The Lord said to Moses, 22 “Number the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families. 23 Number those who are thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, all who go in to do the work in the meeting tent. 24 These are the duties of the families of the Gershonites, in working and in carrying. 25 They will carry the curtains of the meeting tent and the meeting tent with its covering and the covering of badgers’ skins that is over it. They will carry the curtain for the door of the meeting tent, 26 the curtains of the open space, and the curtain for the gate of the open space which is around the meeting tent and the altar. And they will carry the ropes for the curtains, and all the things used for their work. They will do whatever needs to be done with them. 27 All the work of the sons of the Gershonites will be what Aaron and his sons tell them to do. They will tell them what they are to carry and what work they are to do. You will tell them what things they have a duty to carry. 28 This is the work to be done by the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the meeting tent. Ithamar the son of Aaron the religious leader will watch over their duties.
The Work of the Sons of Merari
29 “As for the sons of Merari, number them by their families and by their fathers’ houses. 30 Number those who are thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, everyone who goes in to do the work of the meeting tent. 31 This is what they are to carry for their work in the meeting tent: the wood pieces of the meeting tent, its cross pieces, pillars and its bases. 32 And they are to carry the pillars which are around the open space and their bases and their nails and ropes, with all the things used for their work. You will tell each man by name what he is to carry. 33 This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, all their work in the meeting tent. Ithamar the son of Aaron the religious leader will watch over their duties.”
The Levites Are Numbered
34 So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ houses. 35 They numbered those who were thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent. 36 And their number by families was 2,750. 37 These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who worked in the meeting tent. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do through Moses.
38 The sons of Gershon were numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 39 from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent was numbered. 40 And the number of their men by their families and by their fathers’ houses was 2,630. 41 These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who were working in the meeting tent. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do.
42 The men of the families of the sons of Merari were numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 43 from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent was numbered. 44 And the number of their men by their families was 3,200. 45 These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do through Moses.
46 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered all the men of the Levites by their families and their fathers’ houses, 47 from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who could go in to do the work and the carrying of the meeting tent was numbered. 48 And the number of their men was 8,580. 49 They were each given their work and load to carry, as the Lord told them to do through Moses. So these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had told Moses.
Prayer of a Suffering Man
38 O Lord, do not speak sharp words to me when You are angry. Do not punish me in Your burning anger. 2 For Your arrows have cut deep into me. And Your hand has come down upon me. 3 My body is in pain because of Your anger. There is no strength in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my sins are gone over my head. Like a heavy load, they weigh too much for me. 5 My sores smell and grow bigger because I do foolish things. 6 I cannot stand straight but keep my head down. I have sorrow all day long 7 for my body is filled with burning pain. There is no strength in my body. 8 I am weak and broken. I cry because of the pain in my heart. 9 Lord, all my desire is before You. And my breathing deep within is not hidden from You. 10 My heart beats fast. My strength leaves me. Even the light of my eyes has gone from me. 11 My loved ones and my friends stay away from me because of my sickness. My family stands far away. 12 Those who want to take my life set their traps. And those who want to destroy me talk about ways to do it. They make their sinful plans all day long.
13 But like a deaf man, I do not hear. I am like one who cannot speak and does not open his mouth. 14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, and whose mouth does not argue. 15 For I hope in You, O Lord. You will answer, O Lord my God. 16 For I said, “Do not let them be happy and raise themselves up against me when my foot trips.” 17 For I am ready to fall. And my sorrow is always with me. 18 For I tell my wrong-doings. I am full of sorrow because of my sin. 19 But those who fight against me are full of action and strength. There are many who hate me without reason. 20 They pay what is bad for what is good. They are against me because I follow what is good. 21 Do not leave me alone, O Lord! O my God, do not be far from me! 22 Hurry to help me, O Lord, Who saves me!
2 “I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.”
King Solomon
2 “Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the young women.”
The Woman
3 “Like a fruit tree among many trees, so is my loved one among the young men. With much joy I sat down in his shadow. And his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to his special large room for eating, and his colors over me were love. 5 Make me strong with cakes of dried grapes. Make me strong again with fruit, because I am sick with love. 6 Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand hold me close.”
King Solomon
7 “I tell you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and deer of the field, you must not wake up my love until it is pleasing to her.”
The Second Song
The Woman
8 “Listen, it is the voice of my loved one! See, he is coming! He is running over the mountains, jumping across the hills. 9 My love is like a gazelle or a young deer. See, he is standing behind our wall. He is looking through the windows, through the wood cross-pieces.
10 “My love speaks and says to me, ‘Get up, my love, my beautiful one, and come with me. 11 For see, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers are coming through the ground. The time for singing has come. The voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land. 13 The fig tree has its fruits. The flowers on the vines spread their sweet smell. Get up, my love, my beautiful one, and come with me! 14 O my dove, hidden in the rock, in the secret place in the mountain-side, let me see you. Let me hear your voice. For your voice is sweet, and you are beautiful.
15 ‘Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are destroying our grape-fields, for the flowers are on the vines. 16 My love is mine, and I am his. He lets his flock eat among the lilies. 17 Until the morning comes and the shadows hurry away, turn, my love. Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.’”
Do Not Wait to Be Saved from the Punishment of Sin
2 That is why we must listen all the more to the truths we have been told. If we do not, we may slip away from them. 2 These truths given by the angels proved to be true. People were punished when they did not obey them. 3 God was so good to make a way for us to be saved from the punishment of sin. What makes us think we will not go to hell if we do not take the way to heaven that He has made for us? The Lord was the first to tell us of this. Then those who heard Him told it later. 4 God proved what they said was true by showing us special things to see and by doing powerful works. He gave the gifts of the Holy Spirit as He wanted to.
Jesus, the Way to Heaven
5 God did not make angels to be the leaders of that world to come which we have been speaking about. 6 Instead, the Holy Writings say, “What is man that You think of him and the son of man that You should remember him?” (A) 7 “You made him so he took a place that was not as important as the angels for a little while. You gave him the crown of honor and shining-greatness. *You made him the head over everything You have made. 8 You have put everything under his feet.” (B) There is nothing that does not obey him, but we do not see all things obey him yet. 9 But we do see Jesus. For a little while He took a place that was not as important as the angels. But God had loving-favor for everyone. He had Jesus suffer death on a cross for all of us. Then, because of Christ’s death on a cross, God gave Him the crown of honor and shining-greatness.
10 God made all things. He made all things for Himself. It was right for God to make Jesus a perfect Leader by having Him suffer for men’s sins. In this way, He is bringing many men to share His shining-greatness. 11 Jesus makes men holy. He takes away their sins. Both Jesus and the ones being made holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers. 12 Jesus is saying to His Father, “I will tell My brothers Your name. I will sing songs of thanks for You among the people.” (C) 13 And again He says, “I will put My trust in God.” At another time He said, “Here I am with the children God gave Me.” (D)
14 It is true that we share the same Father with Jesus. And it is true that we share the same kind of flesh and blood because Jesus became a man like us. He died as we must die. Through His death He destroyed the power of the devil who has the power of death. 15 Jesus did this to make us free from the fear of death. We no longer need to be chained to this fear. 16 Jesus did not come to help angels. Instead, He came to help men who are of Abraham’s family. 17 So Jesus had to become like His brothers in every way. He had to be one of us to be our Religious Leader to go between God and us. He had loving-pity on us and He was faithful. He gave Himself as a gift to die on a cross for our sins so that God would not hold these sins against us any longer. 18 Because Jesus was tempted as we are and suffered as we do, He understands us and He is able to help us when we are tempted.
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