M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Passover Is Celebrated
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. 3 That appointed time is the fourteenth day of this month at twilight; they must obey all the rules about it.”
4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, 5 and they did; it was in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
6 But some of the people could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were unclean from touching a dead body. So they went to Moses and Aaron that day and 7 said to Moses, “We are unclean because of touching a dead body. But why should we be kept from offering gifts to the Lord at this appointed time? Why can’t we join the other Israelites?”
8 Moses said to them, “Wait, and I will find out what the Lord says about you.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites this: ‘If you or your descendants become unclean because of a dead body, or if you are away on a trip during the Passover, you must still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11 But celebrate it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. 12 Don’t leave any of it until the next morning or break any of its bones. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules. 13 Anyone who is clean and is not away on a trip but does not eat the Passover must be cut off from the people. That person did not give an offering to the Lord at the appointed time and must be punished for the sin.
14 “‘Foreigners among you may celebrate the Lord’s Passover, but they must follow all the rules. You must have the same rules for foreigners as you have for yourselves.’”
The Cloud Above the Tent
15 On the day the Holy Tent, the Tent of the Agreement, was set up, a cloud covered it. From dusk until dawn the cloud above the Tent looked like fire. 16 The cloud stayed above the Tent, and at night it looked like fire. 17 When the cloud moved from its place over the Tent, the Israelites moved, and wherever the cloud stopped, the Israelites camped. 18 So the Israelites moved at the Lord’s command, and they camped at his command. While the cloud stayed over the Tent, they remained camped. 19 Sometimes the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, but the Israelites obeyed the Lord and did not move. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over it only a few days. At the Lord’s command the people camped, and at his command they moved. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from dusk until dawn; when the cloud lifted the next morning, the people moved. When the cloud lifted, day or night, the people moved. 22 The cloud might stay over the Tent for two days, a month, or a year. As long as it stayed, the people camped, but when it lifted, they moved. 23 At the Lord’s command the people camped, and at his command they moved. They obeyed the Lord’s order that he commanded through Moses.
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.
45 Beautiful words fill my mind.
I am speaking of royal things.
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.
2 You are more handsome than anyone,
and you are an excellent speaker,
so God has blessed you forever.
3 Put on your sword, powerful warrior.
Show your glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty win the victory
for what is true and right.
Your power will do amazing things.
5 Your sharp arrows will enter
the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Nations will be defeated before you.
6 God, your throne will last forever and ever.
You will rule your kingdom with fairness.
7 You love right and hate evil,
so God has chosen you from among your friends;
he has set you apart with much joy.
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
music comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your bride stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir.
10 Listen to me, daughter; look and pay attention.
Forget your people and your father’s family.
11 The king loves your beauty.
Because he is your master, you should obey him.
12 People from the city of Tyre have brought a gift.
Wealthy people will want to meet you.
13 The princess is very beautiful.
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her beautiful clothes she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow behind her,
and they are also brought to him.
15 They come with happiness and joy;
they enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to replace your fathers.
You will make them rulers through all the land.
17 I will make your name famous from now on,
so people will praise you forever and ever.
The Man Speaks to the Woman
7 Your feet are beautiful in sandals,
you daughter of a prince.
Your round thighs are like jewels
shaped by an artist.
2 Your navel is like a round drinking cup
always filled with wine.
Your stomach is like a pile of wheat
surrounded with lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
like twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon
near the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the mountain of Lebanon
that looks down on Damascus.
5 Your head is like Mount Carmel,
and your hair is like purple cloth;
the king is captured in its folds.
6 You are beautiful and pleasant;
my love, you are full of delights.
7 You are tall like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its bunches of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb up the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
Let your breasts be like bunches of grapes,
the smell of your breath like apples,
9 and your mouth like the best wine.
The Woman Speaks to the Man
Let this wine go down sweetly for my lover;
may it flow gently past the lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my lover,
and he desires only me.
11 Come, my lover,
let’s go out into the country
and spend the night in the fields.
12 Let’s go early to the vineyards
and see if the buds are on the vines.
Let’s see if the blossoms have already opened
and if the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrake flowers give their sweet smell,
and all the best fruits are at our gates.
I have saved them for you, my lover,
the old delights and the new.
The Priest Melchizedek
7 Melchizedek[a] was the king of Salem and a priest for God Most High. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. When they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of goodness,” and he is king of Salem, which means “king of peace.” 3 No one knows who Melchizedek’s father or mother was,[b] where he came from, when he was born, or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever.
4 You can see how great Melchizedek was. Abraham, the great father, gave him a tenth of everything that he won in battle. 5 Now the law says that those in the tribe of Levi who become priests must collect a tenth from the people—their own people—even though the priests and the people are from the family of Abraham. 6 Melchizedek was not from the tribe of Levi, but he collected a tenth from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises. 7 Now everyone knows that the more important person blesses the less important person. 8 Priests receive a tenth, even though they are only men who live and then die. But Melchizedek, who received a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says. 9 We might even say that Levi, who receives a tenth, also paid it when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth. 10 Levi was not yet born, but he was in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham.
11 The people were given the law[c] concerning the system of priests from the tribe of Levi, but they could not be made perfect through that system. So there was a need for another priest to come, a priest like Melchizedek, not Aaron. 12 And when a different kind of priest comes, the law must be changed, too. 13 We are saying these things about Christ, who belonged to a different tribe. No one from that tribe ever served as a priest at the altar. 14 It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests belonging to that tribe.
Jesus Is like Melchizedek
15 And this becomes even more clear when we see that another priest comes who is like Melchizedek.[d] 16 He was not made a priest by human rules and laws but through the power of his life, which continues forever. 17 It is said about him,
“You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4
18 The old rule is now set aside, because it was weak and useless. 19 The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God. 20 It is important that God did this with an oath. Others became priests without an oath, 21 but Christ became a priest with God’s oath. God said:
“The Lord has made a promise
and will not change his mind.
‘You are a priest forever.’” Psalm 110:4
22 This means that Jesus is the guarantee of a better agreement[e] from God to his people.
23 When one of the other priests died, he could not continue being a priest. So there were many priests. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, he will never stop serving as priest. 25 So he is able always to save those who come to God through him because he always lives, asking God to help them.
26 Jesus is the kind of high priest we need. He is holy, sinless, pure, not influenced by sinners, and he is raised above the heavens. 27 He is not like the other priests who had to offer sacrifices every day, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people. Christ offered his sacrifice only once and for all time when he offered himself. 28 The law chooses high priests who are people with weaknesses, but the word of God’s oath came later than the law. It made God’s Son to be the high priest, and that Son has been made perfect forever.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.