M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Water That Makes Israel Clean After Someone Dies
19 Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “This is what Yahweh’s teachings have commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red cow that is perfect, with no defects. Also, it must never have worn a yoke.[a] 3 Give it to the priest Eleazar. It must be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 The priest Eleazar will take some of the blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 Then the entire cow (the skin, meat, blood, and excrement) will be burned while he watches. 6 The priest will take some cedar wood, a hyssop sprig, and some red yarn and throw them onto the burning cow. 7 The priest must then wash his clothes and his body. After that, he may go into the camp. But he will be unclean[b] until evening. 8 The person who burned the calf must also wash his clothes and his body. He, too, will be unclean until evening.
9 “A man who is clean[c] will collect the ashes from the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp. They will be kept by the community of Israel and used in the water that takes away uncleanness. The cow is an offering for sin. 10 The person who collected the ashes from the cow must also wash his clothes. He will be unclean until evening. This will be a permanent law for the Israelites and for the foreigners who live with them.
11 “Whoever touches the dead body of any human being will be unclean for seven days. 12 The unclean person must use this water on the third day and the seventh day to take away his sin. Then he will be clean. But if he doesn’t use this water on the third day and the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 Whoever touches the dead body of a human being and doesn’t use this water to take away his sin makes Yahweh’s tent unclean. That person must be excluded from Israel, because the water that takes away uncleanness wasn’t sprinkled on him. He is unclean; his uncleanness stays with him.
14 “These are your instructions for when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who goes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days. 15 Every container without a lid fastened on it is unclean.
16 “Whoever is outdoors and touches someone who was killed or has died naturally or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave will be unclean for seven days.
17 “This is what you must do for people who become unclean from touching a dead body. Put some of the ashes from the red cow that was burned as an offering for sin into a container. Then pour fresh water on them. 18 A person who is clean will take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and all the people who were in the tent with the dead body. He must also sprinkle any person who has touched a human bone or a grave and any person who has touched someone who has been killed or who has died naturally. 19 A person who is clean will sprinkle these types of unclean people on the third day and the seventh day. On the seventh day the clean person will finish taking away their sins. Then they must wash their clothes and bodies, and in the evening they will be clean. 20 But if the person who becomes unclean doesn’t have his sin taken away, that person must be excluded from the assembly. He has made the holy place of Yahweh unclean. The water to take away uncleanness wasn’t sprinkled on him. He is unclean. 21 This will be a permanent law for them.
“Whoever sprinkles the water to take away uncleanness must wash his clothes. And whoever touches this water will be unclean until evening. 22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.”
Psalm 56
For the choir director; according to yonath elem rechokim;[a] a miktam by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
1 Have pity on me, O Elohim, because people are harassing me.
All day long warriors oppress me.
2 All day long my enemies spy on me.
They harass me.
There are so many fighting against me.
3 Even when I am afraid, I still trust you.
4 I praise the word of Elohim.
I trust Elohim.
I am not afraid.
What can mere flesh and blood do to me?
5 All day long my enemies twist my words.
Their every thought is an evil plan against me.
6 They attack, and then they hide.
They watch my every step as they wait to take my life.
7 With the wrong they do, can they escape?
O Elohim, angrily make the nations fall.
8 (You have kept a record of my wanderings.
Put my tears in your bottle.
They are already in your book.)
9 Then my enemies will retreat when I call to you.
This I know: Elohim is on my side.
10 I praise the word of Elohim.
I praise the word of Yahweh.
11 I trust Elohim.
I am not afraid.
What can mortals do to me?
12 I am bound by my vows to you, O Elohim.
I will keep my vows by offering songs of thanksgiving to you.
13 You have rescued me from death.
You have kept my feet from stumbling
so that I could walk in Elohim’s presence, in the light of life.
Psalm 57
For the choir director; al tashcheth;[b] a miktam by David when he fled from Saul into the cave.
1 Have pity on me, O Elohim. Have pity on me,
because my soul takes refuge in you.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until destructive storms pass by.
2 I call to Elohim Elyon,
to El who does everything for me.
3 He sends his help from heaven and saves me.
He disgraces the one who is harassing me. Selah
Elohim sends his mercy and his truth!
4 My soul is surrounded by lions.
I must lie down with man-eating lions.
Their teeth are spears and arrows.
Their tongues are sharp swords.
5 May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.
6 My enemies spread out a net to catch me.
(My soul is bowed down.)[c]
They dug a pit to trap me,
but then they fell into it. Selah
7 My heart is confident, O Elohim.
My heart is confident.
I want to sing and make music.[d]
8 Wake up, my soul![e]
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I want to wake up at dawn.
9 I want to give thanks to you among the people, O Adonay.
I want to make music to praise you among the nations
10 because your mercy is as high as the heavens.
Your truth reaches the skies.
11 May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.
Isaiah’s Child Is a Sign of the Lord’s Protection of Judah
8 Yahweh said to me, “Take a large writing tablet, and write on it with a pen: ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz’ [The Looting Will Come Quickly; the Prey Will Be Easy]. 2 I will have these dependable witnesses testify: the priest Uriah and Zechariah (son of Jeberechiah).”
3 I slept with the prophet. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Yahweh told me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz. 4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria.”
Assyria Will Invade, But It Will Not Conquer Judah
5 Yahweh spoke to me again. He said,
6 “These people have rejected the gently flowing water of Shiloah
and find joy in Rezin and Remaliah’s son.”
7 That is why Adonay is going to bring against them
the raging and powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River—
the king of Assyria with all his power.
It will overflow all its channels and go over all its banks.
8 It will sweep through Judah.
It will overflow and pass through; it will be neck-high.
Its outspread wings will extend over your whole country, O Immanuel.
9 Be broken, you people. Be terrified.
Listen, all you distant parts of the earth.
Prepare for battle, but be terrified.
Prepare for battle, but be terrified.
10 Make plans for battle, but they will never succeed.
Give orders, but they won’t be carried out,
because El is with us!
Some in Jerusalem Will Stumble Because They Do Not Trust the Lord
11 This is what Yahweh said with his powerful hand on me.
He warned me not to follow the ways of these people:
12 “Don’t say that everything these people call a conspiracy
is a conspiracy.
Don’t fear what they fear.
Don’t let it terrify you.”
13 Remember that Yahweh Tsebaoth is holy.
He is the one you should fear
and the one you should be terrified of.
14 He will be a place of safety for you.
But he will be a rock that makes people trip
and a stumbling block for both kingdoms of Israel.
He will be a trap and a snare for those who live in Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and caught.
16 Tie up the written instructions.
Seal the teachings among my disciples.
17 I will wait for Yahweh,
who hides his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will hope in him.
18 I am here with the children that Yahweh has given me.
We are signs and symbols in Israel
from Yahweh Tsebaoth, who lives on Mount Zion.
19 People will say to you, “Ask for help from the mediums
and the fortunetellers, who whisper and mutter.”
Shouldn’t people ask their Elohim for help instead?
Why should they ask the dead to help the living?
20 They should go to the teachings and to the written instructions.
If people don’t speak these words,
it is because it doesn’t dawn on them.
21 They will pass through the land when they are hard-pressed and hungry.
When they are hungry, they will be furious.
Then they will look up, cursing their king and Elohim.
22 They will look at the earth and see only distress and gloom.
They will go in anguish and be forced into darkness.
9 [a]But there will be no more gloom
for the land that is in distress.
Elohim humbled the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali in earlier times.
But in the future he will bring glory to the road by the sea,
to the land across the Jordan River,
to Galilee, where foreigners live.
A Child Will Be Born as the Prince of Peace
2 The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light.
The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow.
3 You will expand the nation and increase its happiness.
It will be happy in your presence
like those who celebrate the harvest
or rejoice when dividing loot.
4 You will break the yoke[b] that burdens them,
the bar that is across their shoulders,
and the stick used by their oppressor,
as you did in the battle against Midian.
5 Every warrior’s boot marching to the sound of battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel in the fire.
6 A child will be born for us.
A son will be given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
He will be named:
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Sar Shalom.
7 His government and peace will have unlimited growth.
He will establish David’s throne and kingdom.
He will uphold it with justice and righteousness now and forever.
Yahweh Tsebaoth is determined to do this!
Don’t Favor Rich People over Poor People
2 My brothers and sisters, practice your faith in our glorious Lord Yeshua Christ by not favoring one person over another. 2 For example, two men come to your worship service. One man is wearing gold rings and fine clothes; the other man, who is poor, is wearing shabby clothes. 3 Suppose you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say to him, “Please have a seat.” But you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor at my feet.” 4 Aren’t you discriminating against people and using a corrupt standard to make judgments?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Didn’t God choose poor people in the world to become rich in faith and to receive the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 6 Yet, you show no respect to poor people. Don’t rich people oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Don’t they curse the good name of Yeshua, the name that was used to bless you?
8 You are doing right if you obey this law from the highest authority: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” 9 If you favor one person over another, you’re sinning, and this law convicts you of being disobedient. 10 If someone obeys all of God’s laws except one, that person is guilty of breaking all of them. 11 After all, the one who said, “Never commit adultery,” is the same one who said, “Never murder.” If you do not commit adultery but you murder, you become a person who disobeys God’s laws.
12 Talk and act as people who are going to be judged by laws that bring freedom. 13 No mercy will be shown to those who show no mercy to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
We Show Our Faith by What We Do
14 My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him? 15 Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food 16 and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don’t provide for that person’s physical needs, what good does it do? 17 In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.
18 Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.
20 You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? 21 Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? 22 You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. 23 The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. 25 The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.
26 A body that doesn’t breathe[a] is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.