M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules for the people after a disease of the skin leaves them
14 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘These rules are for a person who has had a disease on his skin. They are rules about how to make him clean. When the disease leaves the person, you must bring him to the priest. 3 The priest must go outside the camp and he must look at the person. If the disease has gone away, 4 he must speak to the person. He must tell the person that he must bring two birds. They must be birds that are good for food. The birds must be alive. They must also bring wood from the cedar tree, red wool and some hyssop. 5 The priest will bring a pot with water in it. He will hold one of the birds over the pot and he will kill it. 6 The priest will take the other bird and the wood from the cedar tree. He will take the red wool and the hyssop. He will put all of them into the blood of the dead bird. 7 The priest will shake the blood over the person who had the disease. He will do this seven times. The priest will then say that the person is clean. The priest will let the live bird go. It will fly away.
8 The person who had the disease must wash his clothes. He must wash his body with water and he must cut off all his hair. Then he will be clean. He can go into the camp. But he must stay outside the home that he has made from animal skins for seven days. 9 On day seven, he must cut all the hair off his head and his face. He must wash his clothes and his body with water.
10 On the eighth day, the person must bring two young male sheep and one female sheep. The female sheep must be one year old. Both the animals must be perfect. He must also bring three tenths (3/10) of an ephah of flour (about six litres) mixed with oil. And he must bring a cup of olive oil. 11 The priest who is making him clean must be there. He must bring the person to the door of the Tent of Meeting. The person must bring with him his offerings to the Lord.
12 The priest must take one of the male sheep and the oil. He must lift them up to the Lord as a gift. 13 He must kill the sheep at the north side of the altar. That is where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering. The gift is holy. It is food for the priests. 14 The priest must put some of the blood on the lowest part of the person's right ear. He must put blood on the thumb of the person's right hand. And he must put blood on the big toe of the person's right foot. 15 The priest must pour some of the oil into his own left hand. 16 He must put a finger from his right hand into the oil. He must shake the oil seven times in front of the Lord's altar. 17 The priest must put oil on the lowest part of the person's right ear. He must put some of the oil on the thumb of the person's right hand. He must put some of the oil on the big toe of the person's right foot. He will put the oil on top of the offering's blood. 18 The priest must put the oil that he did not use on the person's head. This makes his atonement in front of the Lord.
19 Then the priest must offer the sin offering. That will make atonement for the man who will become clean. Then the priest must kill another sheep. It is a burnt offering. 20 The priest must sacrifice the dead animal. It is a burnt offering. The priest must offer it on the altar. He must burn the flour and the oil with it on the altar. All this will make atonement for the person. This makes the person who had the disease clean.
21 If the person is poor, he must bring one young male sheep. And he must bring a tenth of an ephah of flour (about 2 litres) mixed with oil. And he must give a cup of olive oil. The priest must lift them to the Lord. 22 The person must also bring two birds. They must be doves or pigeons. These will be his gift. One bird is for a sin offering and the other one is for a burnt offering.
23 On the eighth day, the person must bring his gifts to the Lord. He must bring them to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 24 The priest will take the young sheep and the oil and he will lift them up to the Lord. 25 He will kill the sheep. He will put some of its blood on the lowest part of the person's ear. He will put the blood on the thumb of the person's right hand. He will put the blood on the big toe of the person's right foot. 26 The priest will pour some of the oil into his own left hand. 27 He will put a finger from his right hand into the oil. He will shake it seven times in front of the Lord's altar. 28 He will put oil from his hand on the lowest part of the person's ear. He will also put oil on the thumb of the person's right hand. He will put oil on the big toe of the person's right foot. 29 The priest will put the oil that he did not use on the person's head. Then the Lord can see that he is clean. 30 The priest will kill the pigeons or doves. 31 One bird is for a sin offering. The priest will burn the other bird with the grain offering. This is how the priest will make atonement in front of the Lord. He will do it for the person who was not clean.
32 These are the rules for a person who had a disease in his skin. They are for a disease that he might give to other people. They are for people who are too poor to buy three sheep.’
Rules for a house that has a disease called mildew
33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 ‘Canaan is my gift to you, to belong to you for ever. When you go into that land, I may put a disease called mildew[a] in a house there. 35 If a person finds mildew in his house, he must tell the priest. He must say, “I have found something like mildew in my house.” 36 The priest will tell the person what he should do. The person must take everything out of the house. If he does, those things will still be clean. Then the priest will go into the house. 37 He will look at the walls of the house. He will look for a green or red mark. If the mark goes into the wall, 38 the priest will leave the house. He will shut it up for seven days. 39 On the seventh day, the priest will return to the house. The mildew may be bigger. 40 The priest must say, “You must remove the stones that have mildew.” The person must put the stones outside the town. He must put them in a special place. 41 The person must cut the clay from inside the walls of the house. The person must put the clay from the walls outside the town. The person must put it in a place for things that are not clean. 42 The person who lives in the house must get some more stones. He must get some more clay. Then he can mend the wall.
43 A person might find mildew on the wall that he has mended. He must tell the priest. 44 The priest will look at the house. If the mildew is on more of the mended wall, the house is not clean. 45 The person must break the house into pieces. The person who lives in the house must put the stones outside the town. He must put the wood and the clay outside the town. He must put them in the place for things that are not clean.
46 A person may go into the house while it is shut up. If he does, he will not become clean until evening. 47 Any person who sleeps in a house with mildew must wash his clothes. And any person who eats in a house with mildew must wash his clothes.
48 If a person mends his house, the priest must look at it. There may not be any mildew. The priest will then say that it is clean. 49 The person must take two birds and some wood from the cedar tree. He must take red wool and hyssop. 50 The priest will bring a pot with water in it. He will hold one of the birds over the pot and he will kill it. 51 The priest will take the other bird and the wood from the cedar tree. He will take the red wool and the hyssop. He will put all of them into the blood of the dead bird. He will shake the blood and water over the house seven times. This will make the house clean. 52 The priest will use the birds and the wood from the cedar tree. And he will use the wool and the hyssop to make the house clean. 53 Then the priest will take the living bird outside the town. He will let the bird fly away. That will make atonement for the house. The person may then live in the house again.’
Moses tells the people what these rules are for
54 These are the rules for a disease in a person's skin. 55 These are the rules for mildew in clothes or in a house. 56 These are the rules for a mark on or under the skin. 57 These rules decide when a person has a disease. And they decide when he is clean. They show when a house has a disease. They are the rules for diseases in the skin and for mildew.
David wrote this prayer.
A prayer for help
17 Lord, please listen to me.
I am asking you to do something that is right.
I am speaking what is true,
so please do what I ask you to do.
2 Say clearly that I am not guilty.
You can see for yourself that I am right.
3 You look deep into my mind.
You check my thoughts at night.
When you test me,
you find nothing that is wrong.
I have decided that I will never tell any lies.
4 I have watched people do bad things.
But I have obeyed your commands.
I have not joined with cruel people
to do what they do.
5 No, I carefully follow your ways.
I do not turn away from them.
6 I pray to you, God,
because you will answer me.
Please listen to me when I pray to you.
7 Do great things that show your faithful love!
You have the power to keep people safe from their enemies.
You help them when they trust you for help.
8 Please keep me safe,
in the same way that people take care of their eyes.
Keep me near to you,
in the way that birds protect their babies under their wings.
9 Keep me safe from the wicked men who attack me.
My enemies are all around me,
and they want to kill me!
10 They refuse to be kind to anyone.
They speak proud words.
11 Now they have found me. They are ready to attack!
They look for their chance
to knock me down to the ground.
12 They are like hungry lions.
They want to tear me into pieces.
They are hiding like young lions.
They are ready to jump out and catch me!
13 Lord, please do something!
Fight against them! Knock them down!
Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
14 Lord, use your power to save me from them.
They only think about this world,
and they enjoy the good things that it gives them.
So give them all that you have ready for them.
Give them more than they want!
May their children also have plenty,
and enough left to give to their children too.
15 As for me, Lord, I am not guilty of sin.
So I will see your face.
When I wake up, I will see you clearly,
and I will be really happy!
28 A wicked person runs away even when nobody is chasing him.
But a righteous person is as brave as a lion.
2 When the people in a country refuse to obey the law,
they will have many rulers.
But if a country has a wise ruler who understands what is right,
it will continue to be strong.
3 A poor person who is cruel to helpless people
is like a storm that destroys crops.[a]
4 People who do not obey the law praise wicked people.
But people who obey the law speak against wicked people.
5 Evil people do not understand justice.
But people who serve the Lord understand all about it.
6 It is better to be poor and live in an honest way
than to be a rich hypocrite.
7 If you obey the law, you are a wise child.
But if you make friends with greedy people,
you will make your parents ashamed.
8 If you make people pay more when you lend money to them,
you may become rich.
But someone else will enjoy your riches.
They will go to someone who is kind to poor people.
9 If you refuse to listen to God's law,
God will refuse to listen to your prayers.
10 If you cause a good person to do evil things,
your own evil trap will catch you.
But people who do nothing wrong will receive good things.
11 A rich person thinks that he knows everything.
But a poor person who understands people knows what he is really like.
12 When righteous people have power,
everybody is happy.
But when wicked people have power,
good people run away to hide.
13 Anyone who hides his sins will never do well.
But God will forgive somebody,
if he agrees that he has done wrong things,
and if he turns away from his sins.
14 If you are afraid to do wrong things, God will bless you.
But trouble will happen to anyone who refuses to obey.
15 A wicked ruler brings danger to poor people.
He is as dangerous as an angry lion or a hungry bear.
16 If a ruler is cruel, it shows that he is not wise.
But a ruler who refuses bribes will rule for a long time.
17 Someone who is guilty of murder will be running until he dies.
Nobody should help him to escape.
18 If you live in an honest way, you will be safe.
But the hypocrite will suddenly fall into trouble.
19 A farmer who works hard will have plenty of food to eat.
But anyone who works only on useless things will always be poor.
20 A faithful person will receive many blessings.
But anyone who hurries to become rich will only receive punishment.
21 When you judge people, you must always be fair. That is the right thing to do.
But even a small bribe can make some people do the wrong thing.
22 Greedy people hurry to become rich.
They do not know that they will soon be poor.
23 If you warn someone that he has done a wrong thing,
he will thank you in the end.
He will like you more than if you only say sweet words to him.
24 If anyone cheats his parents,
he may say that he has done nothing wrong.
But a person like that is as bad as a robber.
25 Greedy people cause a lot of trouble.
But someone who trusts the Lord will enjoy many good things.
26 If you trust your own thoughts, you are a fool.
But if you live in a wise way, you will be safe from danger.
27 If you give things to poor people, you will still have enough for yourself.
But everyone will curse you if you refuse to help poor people.
28 When wicked people become powerful,
everyone runs away to hide.
But when wicked people lose their power,
righteous people do well again.
The day when the Lord Jesus will return
2 Our Christian friends, we must explain something now about the time when our Lord Jesus Christ will return. That is the time when he will bring us all together to be with him. 2 Please do not become easily confused about this. Do not let yourselves become afraid because of false messages about the Lord's return. Some people are telling you that the great day of the Lord's return has already happened.[a] Some of these people say that God's Spirit has shown them a message like that. Other people might say that the message came from us. Or they might say that we wrote it in a letter.[b]
3 Do not let anyone deceive you like that in any way. That day will not happen until certain other things have happened. Before that day, there will be a time when many people will turn against God. Also, the man who is completely against God will appear.[c] God will surely destroy him in the end. 4 This man will be God's great enemy. He will say that he is greater than everything that people call their gods. He will say that he is greater than everything that people worship. As a result, he will even go into the temple. He will sit down there like a king. He will tell everyone that he himself is God.
5 I told you these things when I was with you. I am sure that you remember that.
6 Something makes it impossible for this man to come now. And you know what it is. But this man will appear at the proper time. 7 His power is already working secretly to turn people against God. But there is someone who makes it impossible for him to work freely. That person will continue to make it impossible, until God takes that person away. 8 Then the man who is against God will appear. But the Lord Jesus will come, and he will kill that man. Jesus will blow him away with breath from his mouth. When Jesus appears with great power, that enemy of God will be there no longer![d]
9 When the enemy of God appears, he will be doing Satan's work. Satan will give him the power to do great things and miracles that are false. 10 He will do all kinds of bad things that deceive people. The people that he deceives are people that God will destroy. Those people believe false things because they have refused to accept God's true message. If they had loved that true message, God would have saved them. 11 For this reason, God causes their minds to accept something that is wrong. They believe a false message. 12 As a result, God will punish all of them. They have refused to believe what is true. Instead, they have enjoyed doing very bad things.
The believers must continue to trust God
13 We always thank God for you, our Christian friends that the Lord loves. We ought to thank God, because he has chosen to save you. God chose you to belong to him, as some of the first people that he would save. You believed God's true message. And God's Spirit makes you separate from things that are bad. 14 We told you God's good news. That is how God called you to come to him. He saved you so that you would join with our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven.
15 Because of that, our Christian friends, you must continue to trust Christ. Continue to believe the true things that we taught you. Those are the things that we told you when we were with you. We also wrote about them in our letter to you.
16 We ask our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, our Father, to help you. God has shown that he loves us very much. He has helped us to be brave and strong for all time. We continue to hope for the good things that will come. Yes, God has been very kind to us! 17 We pray that he will continue to help you and make you strong. Then you will always be able to do good things and to say good things.
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