M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules About Cleanliness
5 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send away from camp anyone with a harmful skin disease. Send away anyone who gives off body fluid or who has become unclean by touching a dead body. 3 Send both men and women outside the camp so that they won’t spread the disease there, where I am living among you.” 4 So Israel obeyed the Lord’s command and sent those people outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had told Moses.
Paying for Doing Wrong
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Tell the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman does something wrong to another person, that is really sinning against the Lord. That person is guilty 7 and must admit the wrong that has been done. The person must fully pay for the wrong that has been done, adding one-fifth to it, and giving it to the person who was wronged. 8 But if that person is dead and does not have any close relatives to receive the payment, the one who did wrong owes the Lord and must pay the priest. In addition, the priest must sacrifice a male sheep to remove the wrong so that the person will belong to the Lord. 9 When an Israelite brings a holy gift, it should be given to the priest. 10 No one has to give these holy gifts, but if someone does give them, they belong to the priest.’”
Suspicious Husbands
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Tell the Israelites: ‘A man’s wife might be unfaithful to him 13 and have sexual relations with another man. Her sin might be kept hidden from her husband so that he does not know about the wrong she did. Perhaps no one saw it, and she wasn’t caught. 14 But if her husband has feelings of jealousy and suspects she has sinned—whether she has or not— 15 he should take her to the priest. The husband must also take an offering for her of two quarts of barley flour. He must not pour oil or incense on it, because this is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of remembrance. It is to find out if she is guilty.
16 “‘The priest will bring in the woman and make her stand before the Lord. 17 He will take some holy water in a clay jar, and he will put some dirt from the floor of the Holy Tent into the water. 18 The priest will make the woman stand before the Lord, and he will loosen her hair. He will hand her the offering of remembrance, the grain offering for jealousy; he will hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 The priest will make her take an oath and ask her, “Has another man had sexual relations with you? Have you been unfaithful to your husband? If you haven’t, this bitter water that brings a curse won’t hurt you. 20 But if you have been unfaithful to your husband and have had sexual relations with a man besides him”— 21 the priest will then put on her the curse that the oath will bring—“the Lord will make the people curse and reject you. He will make your stomach get big, and he will make your body unable to give birth to another baby. 22 This water that brings a curse will go inside you and make your body unable to give birth to another baby.”
“‘The woman must say, “I agree.”
23 “‘The priest should write these curses on a scroll, wash the words off into the bitter water, 24 and make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. If she is guilty, the water will make her sick. 25 Then the priest will take the grain offering for jealousy from her. He will present it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26 He will take a handful of the grain, which is a memorial offering, and burn it on the altar. After that he will make the woman drink the water 27 to see if she is not pure and if she has sinned against her husband. When it goes into her, if her stomach gets big and she is not able to have another baby, her people will reject her. 28 But if the woman has not sinned, she is pure. She is not guilty, and she will be able to have babies.
29 “‘So this is the teaching about jealousy. This is what to do when a woman does wrong and is unfaithful while she is married to her husband. 30 It also should be done if the man gets jealous because he suspects his wife. The priest will have her stand before the Lord, and he will do all these things, just as the teaching commands. 31 In this way the husband can be proven correct, and the woman will suffer if she has done wrong.’”
Life Is Short
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
39 I said, “I will be careful how I act
and will not sin by what I say.
I will be careful what I say
around wicked people.”
2 So I kept very quiet.
I didn’t even say anything good,
but I became even more upset.
3 I became very angry inside,
and as I thought about it, my anger burned.
So I spoke:
4 “Lord, tell me when the end will come
and how long I will live.
Let me know how long I have.
5 You have given me only a short life;
my lifetime is like nothing to you.
Everyone’s life is only a breath. Selah
6 People are like shadows moving about.
All their work is for nothing;
they collect things but don’t know who will get them.
7 “So, Lord, what hope do I have?
You are my hope.
8 Save me from all my sins.
Don’t let wicked fools make fun of me.
9 I am quiet; I do not open my mouth,
because you are the one who has done this.
10 Quit punishing me;
your beating is about to kill me.
11 You correct and punish people for their sins;
like a moth, you destroy what they love.
Everyone’s life is only a breath. Selah
12 “Lord, hear my prayer,
and listen to my cry.
Do not ignore my tears.
I am like a visitor with you.
Like my ancestors, I’m only here a short time.
13 Leave me alone so I can be happy
before I leave and am no more.”
The Woman Dreams
3 At night on my bed,
I looked for the one I love;
I looked for him, but I could not find him.
2 I got up and went around the city,
in the streets and squares,
looking for the one I love.
I looked for him, but I could not find him.
3 The watchmen found me as they patrolled the city,
so I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 As soon as I had left them,
I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room where I was born.
The Woman Speaks to the Friends
5 Women of Jerusalem, promise me
by the gazelles and the deer
not to awaken
or excite my feelings of love
until it is ready.
6 Who is this coming out of the desert
like a cloud of smoke?
Who is this that smells like myrrh, incense,
and other spices?
7 Look, it’s Solomon’s couch[a]
with sixty soldiers around it,
the finest soldiers of Israel.
8 These soldiers all carry swords
and have been trained in war.
Every man wears a sword at his side
and is ready for the dangers of the night.
9 King Solomon had a couch made for himself
of wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver
and its braces of gold.
The seat was covered with purple cloth
that the women of Jerusalem wove with love.
11 Women of Jerusalem, go out and see King Solomon.
He is wearing the crown his mother put on his head
on his wedding day,
when his heart was happy!
Jesus Is Greater than Moses
3 So all of you holy brothers and sisters, who were called by God, think about Jesus, who was sent to us and is the high priest of our faith. 2 Jesus was faithful to God as Moses was in God’s family. 3 Jesus has more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 Every house is built by someone, but the builder of everything is God himself. 5 Moses was faithful in God’s family as a servant, and he told what God would say in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. And we are God’s house if we confidently maintain our hope.
We Must Continue to Follow God
7 So it is as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today listen to what he says.
8 Do not be stubborn as in the past
when you turned against God,
when you tested God in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tried me and tested me
and saw the things I did for forty years.
10 I was angry with them.
I said, ‘They are not loyal to me
and have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my rest.’”[a] Psalm 95:7–11
12 So brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that will turn you away from the living God. 13 But encourage each other every day while it is “today.”[b] Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you. 14 We all share in Christ if we keep till the end the sure faith we had in the beginning. 15 This is what the Scripture says:
“Today listen to what he says.
Do not be stubborn as in the past
when you turned against God.” Psalm 95:7–8
16 Who heard God’s voice and was against him? It was all those people Moses led out of Egypt. 17 And with whom was God angry for forty years? He was angry with those who sinned, who died in the desert. 18 And to whom was God talking when he promised that they would never enter his rest? He was talking to those who did not obey him. 19 So we see they were not allowed to enter and have God’s rest, because they did not believe.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.