M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lamp Stand in the Tent
8 Yahweh said to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him: When you set up the seven lamps on the lamp stand, they should light up the area in front of it.”
3 So Aaron set up the lamps on the lamp stand to light up the area in front of it, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
4 This is how the lamp stand was made: The whole lamp stand, from top to bottom, was hammered out of gold. It was made exactly like the one Yahweh had shown Moses.
The Levites Are Made Ready to Do the Lord’s Work
5 Yahweh said to Moses, 6 “Separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and make them clean.[a] 7 This is what you must do to make them clean: Sprinkle them with water to take away their sins. Make them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. Then they will be clean. 8 Next, they must take a young bull and the grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil that is offered with it. You must take a second young bull as an offering for sin. 9 Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole community of Israel. 10 Then bring the Levites into Yahweh’s presence, and the Israelites will place their hands on them. 11 Aaron will present the Levites to Yahweh as an offering from the Israelites. Then they will be ready to do Yahweh’s work.
12 “The Levites will place their hands on the heads of the young bulls. Sacrifice one of them as an offering for sin and the other one as a burnt offering to Yahweh. These sacrifices will make peace with the Lord for the Levites. 13 Make the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, and present them as an offering to Yahweh. 14 In this way you will separate the Levites from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.
15 “Once you have made them clean and presented them as an offering, the Levites may come and do their work at the tent of meeting. 16 They will be the only Israelites given to me. I have taken them to be mine as substitutes for every firstborn male offspring of the Israelites. 17 Every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal, is mine. The day I killed every firstborn male in Egypt, I set them apart as holy to me. 18 So I have taken the Levites as substitutes for all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. 19 The Levites will be the only Israelites I give to Aaron and his sons. They will work for the Israelites at the tent of meeting. They will make peace with the Lord for the Israelites. Then no plague will strike the Israelites when they come near the holy place.”
20 Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel did what Yahweh commanded Moses to do to the Levites. 21 The Levites performed the ceremonies to take away their sins and washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as an offering to Yahweh and made peace with the Lord for them in order to make them clean. 22 After that, the Levites came and did their work at the tent of meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. They did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
23 Yahweh said to Moses, 24 “These are the instructions for the Levites: Men 25 years old or older are eligible to serve at the tent of meeting. 25 But when they’re 50 years old, they must retire from active service and not work anymore. 26 They may assist the other Levites in their duties at the tent of meeting, but they may not do any regular work. This is how you will handle the Levites’ duties.”
Psalm 44
For the choir director; a maskil by Korah’s descendants.
1 O Elohim,
we have heard it with our own ears.
Our ancestors have told us
about the miracle you performed in their day,
in days long ago.
2 By your power you forced nations out of the land,
but you planted our ancestors there.
You shattered many groups of people,
but you set our ancestors free.[a]
3 It was not with their swords that they took possession of the land.
They did not gain victory with their own strength.
It was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your presence that did it,
because you were pleased with them.
4 You alone are my Melek, O Elohim.
You won those victories for Jacob.
5 With you we can walk over our enemies.
With your name we can trample those who attack us.
6 I do not rely on my bow,
and my sword will never save me.
7 But you saved us from our enemies.
You put to shame those who hate us.
8 All day long we praise our Elohim.
We give thanks to you forever. Selah
9 But now you have rejected and disgraced us.
You do not even go along with our armies.
10 You make us retreat from the enemy.
Those who hate us rob us at will.
11 You hand us over to be butchered like sheep
and scatter us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for almost nothing,
and at that price you have gained nothing.
13 You made us a disgrace to our neighbors
and an object of ridicule and contempt to those around us.
14 You made our defeat a proverb among the nations
so that people shake their heads at us.
15 All day long my disgrace is in front of me.
Shame covers my face
16 because of the words of those who insult and slander us,
because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
17 Although all of this happened to us,
we never forgot you.
We never ignored your promise.[b]
18 Our hearts never turned away.
Our feet never left your path.
19 Yet, you crushed us in a place for jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we forgot the name of our Elohim
or stretched out our hands to pray to another god,
21 wouldn’t Elohim find out,
since he knows the secrets in our hearts?
22 Indeed, we are being killed all day long because of you.
We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Wake up! Why are you sleeping, O Adonay?
Awake! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our suffering and misery?
25 Our souls are bowing in the dust.
Our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Arise! Help us!
Rescue us because of your mercy!
[The chorus of young women]
6 Where did your beloved go, most beautiful of women?
Where did your beloved turn?
We will look for him with you.
[Bride]
2 My beloved went to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to graze his flock in the gardens and gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
He is the one who grazes his flock among the lilies.
Solomon Desires the Young Woman More Than the Rest of His Wives
[Groom]
4 You are beautiful, my true love, like Tirzah,
lovely like Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring like those great cities.[a]
5 Turn your eyes away from me. They enchant me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep,
sheep that come up from the washing.
All of them bear twins, and not one has lost its young.
7 Your temples behind your veil are like slices of pomegranate.
8 There are 60 queens, 80 concubines,[b] and countless virgins,
9 but she is unique, my dove, my perfect one.
Her mother thinks she is unique.
She is pure to the one who gave birth to her.
Her sisters saw her and blessed her.
Queens and concubines saw her and praised her.
The Young Woman’s Home in Shulam
[The chorus of young women]
10 Who is this young woman?
She looks like the dawn.
She is beautiful like the moon,
pure like the sun,
awe-inspiring like those heavenly bodies.
[Bride]
11 I went to the walnut grove
to look at the blossoms in the valley,
to see if the grapevine had budded
and if the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I did not know that I had become
like the chariots of my noble people.[c]
[The chorus of young women]
13 Come back! Come back, young woman from Shulam!
Come back! Come back so that we may look at you!
[Bride]
Why do you look at me, the young woman from Shulam,
as you look at the dance of Mahanaim?
6 With this in mind, we should stop going over the elementary truths about Christ and move on to topics for more mature people. We shouldn’t repeat the basics about turning away from the useless things we did and the basics about faith in God. 2 We shouldn’t repeat the basic teachings about such things as baptisms, setting people apart for holy tasks, dead people coming back to life, and eternal judgment. 3 If God permits, we will do this.
4 Some people once had God’s light. They experienced the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit. 5 They experienced the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the world to come. 6 Yet, they have deserted Christ. They are crucifying the Son of God again and publicly disgracing him. Therefore, they cannot be led a second time to God.
7 God blesses the earth. So rain often falls on it, and it produces useful crops for farmers. 8 However, if the earth produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
God Will Not Forget You
9 Dear friends, even though we say these things, we are still convinced that better things are in store for you and that they will save you. 10 God is fair. He won’t forget what you’ve done or the love you’ve shown for him. You helped his holy people, and you continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to prove that you’re working hard so that you will remain confident until the end. 12 Then, instead of being lazy, you will imitate those who are receiving the promises through faith and patience.
13 God made a promise to Abraham. Since he had no one greater on whom to base his oath, he based it on himself. 14 He said, “I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 So Abraham received what God promised because he waited patiently for it.
16 When people take oaths, they base their oaths on someone greater than themselves. Their oaths guarantee what they say and end all arguments. 17 God wouldn’t change his plan. He wanted to make this perfectly clear to those who would receive his promise, so he took an oath. 18 God did this so that we would be encouraged. God cannot lie when he takes an oath or makes a promise. These two things can never be changed. Those of us who have taken refuge in him hold on to the confidence we have been given. 19 We have this confidence as a sure and strong anchor for our lives. This confidence goes into the holy place behind the curtain 20 where Yeshua went before us on our behalf. He has become the chief priest forever in the way Melchizedek was a priest.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.