M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Rules for priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, Aaron’s sons: None of you are allowed to make yourselves unclean by any dead person among your community ² except for your closest relatives: for your mother, father, son, daughter, brother; ³ also for your unmarried sister, who is close to you because she isn’t married—you may be polluted for her sake. ⁴ You must not make yourself unclean for in-laws, defiling yourself by doing so.

⁵ Priests must not shave bald patches on their heads or cut off the ends of their beards or make gashes in their bodies. ⁶ They must be holy to their God so that they do not make their God’s name impure. They must be holy because they offer the Lord’s food gifts, their God’s food. ⁷ Priests must not marry a woman who is promiscuous and defiled, nor can they marry a woman divorced from her husband, because priests must be^[a] holy to their God. ⁸ You will treat the priests as holy, because they offer your God’s food. The priests will be holy to you, because I am the holy Lord, who makes you holy. ⁹ If the daughter of a priest defiles herself by being promiscuous, she defiles her father. She must be burned with fire.

¹⁰ The high priest^[b]—the one whose head has been anointed with the anointing oil and who is ordained to dress in the priestly clothing—must not dishevel his hair or tear his clothing. ¹¹ He must not go near any dead bodies and cannot make himself unclean even for his father or mother. ¹² He must not exit the sanctuary, making his God’s sanctuary impure by doing so, because his God’s anointing oil, which separates,^[c] is upon him; I am the Lord. ¹³ The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin. ¹⁴ He cannot marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by promiscuity. He can only marry a virgin from his own people ¹⁵ so that he doesn’t make his children impure among his people, because I am the Lord, who makes him holy.

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ Say to Aaron: None of your future descendants who have some kind of imperfection are allowed to offer their God’s food. ¹⁸ No one who has an imperfection will be allowed to make an offering: this includes anyone who is blind, crippled, disfigured, or deformed; ¹⁹ anyone who has a broken foot or hand; ²⁰ anyone who is a hunchback or too small; anyone who has an eye disease, a rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.^{[d] 21} No descendant of Aaron the priest who has an imperfection will be allowed to offer the Lord’s food gifts; since he has an imperfection, he will not be allowed to offer his God’s food. ²² He may, of course, eat of his God’s most holy or holy food, ²³ but since he has an imperfection, he cannot enter toward the inner curtain or officiate at the altar, making these parts of my sanctuary impure by doing so. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.

²⁴ This is what Moses said to Aaron, his sons, and to all the Israelites.

Psalm 26

Of David.

Psalm 27

Of David.

Death is better than oppression

4 When I next observed all the oppressions that take place under the sun, I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no one to comfort them. Their oppressors wield power—but they have no one to comfort them. ² So I declare that the dead, who have already died, are more fortunate than the living, who are still alive. ³ But happier than both are those who have never existed, who haven’t witnessed the terrible things that happen under the sun.

Envy and loneliness

⁴ I also observed that people work hard and become good at what they do only out of mutual envy. This too is pointless, just wind chasing.

⁷ Next, I saw under the sun something else that was pointless: ⁸ There are people who are utterly alone, with no companions, not even a child or a sibling. Yet they work hard without end, never satisfied with their wealth. So for whom am I working so hard and depriving myself of enjoyment? This too is pointless and a terrible obsession.

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work. ¹⁰ If either should fall, one can pick up the other. But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a companion to help them up! ¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they can stay warm. But how can anyone stay warm alone? ¹² Also, one can be overpowered, but two together can put up resistance. A three-ply cord doesn’t easily snap.

¹³ A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king, who no longer listens to advice. ¹⁴ He emerged from prison to become king, even though during his rule a poor child^[a] is born. ¹⁵ I saw all who live and walk under the sun following the next youth who would rise to take his place. ¹⁶ There was no counting the number of people he ruled, but those who came later aren’t happy with him. This too is pointless and a chasing after wind.

Conduct of Christian slaves

6 Those who are under the bondage of slavery should consider their own masters as worthy of full respect so that God’s name and our teaching won’t get a bad reputation. ² And those who have masters who are believers shouldn’t look down on them because they are brothers. Instead, they should serve them more faithfully, because the people who benefit from your good service are believers who are loved. Teach and encourage these things.

Warning about false teachers

³ If anyone teaches anything different and doesn’t agree with sound teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ and teaching that is consistent with godliness, ⁴ that person is conceited. They don’t understand anything but have a sick obsession with debates and arguments. This creates jealousy, conflict, verbal abuse, and evil suspicions. ⁵ There is constant bickering between people whose minds are ruined and who have been robbed of the truth. They think that godliness is a way to make money! ⁶ Actually, godliness is a great source of profit when it is combined with being happy with what you already have. ⁷ We didn’t bring anything into the world and so we can’t take anything out of it: ⁸ we’ll be happy with food and clothing. ⁹ But people who are trying to get rich fall into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful passions that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.

¹¹ But as for you, man of God, run away from all these things. Instead, pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. ¹² Compete in the good fight of faith. Grab hold of eternal life—you were called to it, and you made a good confession of it in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I command you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who made the good confession when testifying before Pontius Pilate. ¹⁴ Obey this order without fault or failure until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ The timing of this appearance is revealed by God alone, who is the blessed and only master, the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶ He alone has immortality and lives in light that no one can come near. No human being has ever seen or is able to see him. Honor and eternal power belong to him. Amen.

Wealth of good works

¹⁷ Tell people who are rich at this time not to become egotistical and not to place their hope on their finances, which are uncertain. Instead, they need to hope in God, who richly provides everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Tell them to do good, to be rich in the good things they do, to be generous, and to share with others. ¹⁹ When they do these things, they will save a treasure for themselves that is a good foundation for the future. That way they can take hold of what is truly life.

Protect the tradition

²⁰ Timothy, protect what has been given to you in trust. Avoid godless and pointless discussions and the contradictory claims of so-called “knowledge.” ²¹ When some people adopted this false knowledge, they missed the goal of faith.

May grace be with you all.