M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules About Skin Diseases
13 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Someone might have on his skin a swelling or a rash or a bright spot. If the sore looks like a harmful skin disease, the person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of Aaron’s sons, the priests. 3 The priest must look at the sore on the person’s skin. If the hair in the sore has become white, and the sore seems deeper than the person’s skin, it is a harmful skin disease. When he has finished looking at the person, the priest must announce that the person is unclean.
4 “If there is a white spot on a person’s skin, but the spot does not seem deeper than the skin, and if the hair from the spot has not turned white, the priest must separate that person from other people for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest must look at the person again. If he sees that the sore has not changed and it has not spread on the skin, the priest must keep the person separated for seven more days. 6 On the seventh day the priest must look at the person again. If the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest must announce that the person is clean. The sore is only a rash. The person must wash his clothes, and he will become clean again.
7 “But if the rash spreads again after the priest has announced him clean, the person must come again to the priest. 8 The priest must look at him, and if the rash has spread on the skin, the priest must announce that the person is unclean; it is a harmful skin disease.
9 “If a person has a harmful skin disease, he must be brought to the priest, 10 and the priest must look at him. If there is a white swelling in the skin, and the hair has become white, and the skin looks raw in the swelling, 11 it is a harmful skin disease. It is one he has had for a long time. The priest must announce that the person is unclean. He will not need to separate that person from other people, because everyone already knows that the person is unclean.
12 “If the skin disease spreads all over a person’s body, covering his skin from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see, the priest must look at the person’s whole body. 13 If the priest sees that the disease covers the whole body and has turned all of the person’s skin white, he must announce that the person is clean.
14 “But when the person has an open sore, he is unclean. 15 When the priest sees the open sore, he must announce that the person is unclean. The open sore is not clean; it is a harmful skin disease. 16 If the open sore becomes white again, the person must come to the priest. 17 The priest must look at him, and if the sores have become white, the priest must announce that the person with the sores is clean. Then he will be clean.
18 “Someone may have a boil on his skin that is healed. 19 If in the place where the boil was, there is a white swelling or a bright red spot, this place on the skin must be shown to the priest. 20 And the priest must look at it. If the spot seems deeper than the skin and the hair on it has become white, the priest must announce that the person is unclean. The spot is a harmful skin disease that has broken out from inside the boil. 21 But if the priest looks at the spot and there are no white hairs in it and the spot is not deeper than the skin and it has faded, the priest must separate the person from other people for seven days. 22 If the spot spreads on the skin, the priest must announce that the person is unclean; it is a disease that will spread. 23 But if the bright spot does not spread or change, it is only the scar from the old boil. Then the priest must announce that the person is clean.
24 “When a person gets a burn on his skin, if the open sore becomes white or red, 25 the priest must look at it. If the white spot seems deeper than the skin and the hair at that spot has become white, it is a harmful skin disease. The disease has broken out in the burn, and the priest must announce that the person is unclean. It is a harmful skin disease. 26 But if the priest looks at the spot and there is no white hair in the bright spot, and the spot is no deeper than the skin and has faded, the priest must separate the person from other people for seven days. 27 On the seventh day the priest must look at him again. If the spot has spread on the skin, the priest must announce that the person is unclean. It is a harmful skin disease. 28 But if the bright spot has not spread on the skin but has faded, it is the swelling from the burn. The priest must announce that the person is clean, because the spot is only a scar from the burn.
29 “When a man or a woman gets a sore on the scalp or on the chin, 30 a priest must look at the sore. If it seems deeper than the skin and the hair around it is thin and yellow, the priest must announce that the person is unclean. It is an itch, a harmful skin disease of the head or chin. 31 But if the priest looks at it and it does not seem deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest must separate the person from other people for seven days. 32 On the seventh day the priest must look at the sore. If it has not spread, and there are no yellow hairs growing in it, and the sore does not seem deeper than the skin, 33 the person must shave himself, but he must not shave the sore place. The priest must separate that person from other people for seven more days. 34 On the seventh day the priest must look at the sore. If it has not spread on the skin and it does not seem deeper than the skin, the priest must announce that the person is clean. So the person must wash his clothes and become clean. 35 But if the sore spreads on the skin after the person has become clean, 36 the priest must look at him again. If the sore has spread on the skin, the priest doesn’t need to look for the yellowish hair; the person is unclean. 37 But if the priest thinks the sore has stopped spreading, and black hair is growing in it, the sore has healed. The person is clean, and the priest must announce that he is clean.
38 “When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin, 39 a priest must look at them. If the spots on the skin are dull white, the disease is only a harmless rash. That person is clean.
40 “When anyone loses hair from his head and is bald, he is clean. 41 If he loses hair from the front of his head and has a bald forehead, he is clean. 42 But if there is a red-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is a skin disease breaking out in those places. 43 A priest must look at that person. If the swelling of the sore on his bald head or forehead is red-white, like a skin disease that spreads, 44 that person has a skin disease. He is unclean. The priest must announce that the person is unclean because of the sore on his head.
45 “If a person has a skin disease that spreads, he must warn other people by shouting, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ His clothes must be torn at the seams, he must let his hair stay uncombed, and he must cover his mouth. 46 That person will be unclean the whole time he has the disease; he is unclean. He must live alone outside the camp.
Rules About Mildew
47 “Clothing might have mildew on it. It might be clothing made of linen or wool 48 (either woven or knitted), or of leather, or something made from leather. 49 If the mildew in the clothing, leather, or woven or knitted material is green or red, it is a spreading mildew. It must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest must look at the mildew, and he must put that piece of clothing in a separate place for seven days. 51 On the seventh day he must look at the mildew again. If the mildew has spread on the cloth (either woven or knitted) or the leather, no matter what the leather was used for, it is a mildew that destroys; it is unclean. 52 The priest must burn the clothing. It does not matter if it is woven or knitted, wool or linen, or made of leather, because the mildew is spreading. It must be burned.
53 “If the priest sees that the mildew has not spread in the cloth (either knitted or woven) or leather, 54 he must order the people to wash that piece of leather or cloth. Then he must separate the clothing for seven more days. 55 After the piece with the mildew has been washed, the priest must look at it again. If the mildew still looks the same, the piece is unclean, even if the mildew has not spread. You must burn it in fire; it does not matter if the mildew is on one side or the other.
56 “But when the priest looks at that piece of leather or cloth, the mildew might have faded after the piece has been washed. Then the priest must tear the mildew out of the piece of leather or cloth (either woven or knitted). 57 But if the mildew comes back to that piece of leather or cloth (either woven or knitted), the mildew is spreading. And whatever has the mildew must be burned with fire. 58 When the cloth (either woven or knitted) or the leather is washed and the mildew is gone, it must be washed again; then it will be clean.
59 “These are the teachings about mildew on pieces of cloth (either woven or knitted) or leather, to decide if they are clean or unclean.”
What the Lord Demands
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may enter your Holy Tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 Only those who are innocent
and who do what is right.
Such people speak the truth from their hearts
3 and do not tell lies about others.
They do no wrong to their neighbors
and do not gossip.
4 They do not respect hateful people
but honor those who honor the Lord.
They keep their promises to their neighbors,
even when it hurts.
5 They do not charge interest on money they lend
and do not take money to hurt innocent people.
Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed.
The Lord Takes Care of His People
A miktam of David.
16 Protect me, God,
because I trust in you.
2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
Every good thing I have comes from you.”
3 As for the godly people in the world,
they are the wonderful ones I enjoy.
4 But those who turn to idols
will have much pain.
I will not offer blood to those idols
or even speak their names.
5 No, the Lord is all I need.
He takes care of me.
6 My share in life has been pleasant;
my part has been beautiful.
7 I praise the Lord because he advises me.
Even at night, I feel his leading.
8 I keep the Lord before me always.
Because he is close by my side,
I will not be hurt.
9 So I rejoice and am glad.
Even my body has hope,
10 because you will not leave me in the grave.
You will not let your holy one rot.
11 You will teach me how to live a holy life.
Being with you will fill me with joy;
at your right hand I will find pleasure forever.
27 Don’t brag about tomorrow;
you don’t know what may happen then.
2 Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.
Let the praise come from a stranger and not from your own mouth.
3 Stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a complaining fool is worse than either.
4 Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood,
but no one can put up with jealousy!
5 It is better to correct someone openly
than to have love and not show it.
6 The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you,
but the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies.
7 When you are full, not even honey tastes good,
but when you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet.
8 A person who leaves his home
is like a bird that leaves its nest.
9 The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant,
and so is good advice from a friend.
10 Don’t forget your friend or your parent’s friend.
Don’t always go to your family for help when trouble comes.
A neighbor close by is better than a family far away.
11 Be wise, my child, and make me happy.
Then I can respond to any insult.
12 The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,
but fools keep going and get into trouble.
13 Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s loan,
and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes.
14 If you loudly greet your neighbor early in the morning,
he will think of it as a curse.
15 A quarreling wife is as bothersome
as a continual dripping on a rainy day.
16 Stopping her is like stopping the wind
or trying to grab oil in your hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so people can improve each other.
18 Whoever tends a fig tree gets to eat its fruit,
and whoever takes care of his master will receive honor.
19 As water reflects your face,
so your mind shows what kind of person you are.
20 People will never stop dying and being destroyed,
and they will never stop wanting more than they have.
21 A hot furnace tests silver and gold,
and people are tested by the praise they receive.
22 Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
you couldn’t remove the foolishness.
23 Be sure you know how your sheep are doing,
and pay attention to the condition of your cattle.
24 Riches will not go on forever,
nor do governments go on forever.
25 Bring in the hay, and let the new grass appear.
Gather the grass from the hills.
26 Make clothes from the lambs’ wool,
and sell some goats to buy a field.
27 There will be plenty of goat’s milk
to feed you and your family
and to make your servant girls healthy.
1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To the church in Thessalonica in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Talks About God’s Judgment
3 We must always thank God for you, brothers and sisters. This is only right, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love that every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4 So we brag about you to the other churches of God. We tell them about the way you continue to be strong and have faith even though you are being treated badly and are suffering many troubles.
5 This is proof that God is right in his judgment. He wants you to be counted worthy of his kingdom for which you are suffering. 6 God will do what is right. He will give trouble to those who trouble you. 7 And he will give rest to you who are troubled and to us also when the Lord Jesus appears with burning fire from heaven with his powerful angels. 8 Then he will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 Those people will be punished with a destruction that continues forever. They will be kept away from the Lord and from his great power. 10 This will happen on the day when the Lord Jesus comes to receive glory because of his holy people. And all the people who have believed will be amazed at Jesus. You will be in that group, because you believed what we told you.
11 That is why we always pray for you, asking our God to help you live the kind of life he called you to live. We pray that with his power God will help you do the good things you want and perform the works that come from your faith. 12 We pray all this so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will have glory in you, and you will have glory in him. That glory comes from the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.