M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Feast of Trumpets
29 “‘Have a holy meeting on the first day of the seventh month, and don’t work on that day. That is the day you blow the trumpets. 2 Bring these burnt offerings as a smell pleasing to the Lord: one young bull, one male sheep, and seven male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 3 With the bull give a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. With the male sheep offer four quarts, 4 and with each of the seven lambs offer two quarts. 5 Offer one male goat for a sin offering to remove your sins so you will belong to God. 6 These offerings are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings. Their grain offerings and drink offerings must be done as you have been told. These offerings are made by fire to the Lord, and their smell is pleasing to him.
The Day of Cleansing
7 “‘Have a holy meeting on the tenth day of the seventh month. On that day do not eat and do not work. 8 Bring these burnt offerings as a smell pleasing to the Lord: one young bull, one male sheep, and seven male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 9 With the bull give a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. With the male sheep it must be four quarts, 10 and with each of the seven lambs it must be two quarts. 11 Offer one male goat as a sin offering. This will be in addition to the sin offering which removes your sins, the daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and the drink offerings.
The Feast of Shelters
12 “‘Have a holy meeting on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and do not work on that day. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days. 13 Bring these burnt offerings, made by fire, as a smell pleasing to the Lord: thirteen young bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 14 With each of the thirteen bulls offer a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. With each of the two male sheep it must be four quarts, 15 and with each of the fourteen lambs it must be two quarts. 16 Offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
17 “‘On the second day of this festival give an offering of twelve bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 18 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. 19 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
20 “‘On the third day offer eleven bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 21 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. 22 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
23 “‘On the fourth day offer ten bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 24 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. 25 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
26 “‘On the fifth day offer nine bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 27 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. 28 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
29 “‘On the sixth day offer eight bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 30 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. 31 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
32 “‘On the seventh day offer seven bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 33 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. 34 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
35 “‘On the eighth day have a closing meeting, and do not work on that day. 36 Bring an offering made by fire, a burnt offering, as a smell pleasing to the Lord. Offer one bull, one male sheep, and seven male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. 37 Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bull, the male sheep, and the lambs, according to the number required. 38 Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.
39 “‘At your festivals you should bring these to the Lord: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings. These are in addition to other promised offerings and special gifts you want to give to the Lord.’”
40 Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him.
Should the Wicked Be Rich?
A psalm of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those who have pure hearts.
2 But I had almost stopped believing;
I had almost lost my faith
3 because I was jealous of proud people.
I saw wicked people doing well.
4 They are not suffering;
they are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like the rest of us;
they don’t have problems like other people.
6 They wear pride like a necklace
and put on violence as their clothing.
7 They are looking for profits
and do not control their selfish desires.
8 They make fun of others and speak evil;
proudly they speak of hurting others.
9 They brag to the sky.
They say that they own the earth.
10 So their people turn to them
and give them whatever they want.
11 They say, “How can God know?
What does God Most High know?”
12 These people are wicked,
always at ease, and getting richer.
13 So why have I kept my heart pure?
Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?
14 I have suffered all day long;
I have been punished every morning.
15 God, if I had decided to talk like this,
I would have let your people down.
16 I tried to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me to see
17 until I went to the Temple of God.
Then I understood what will happen to them.
18 You have put them in danger;
you cause them to be destroyed.
19 They are destroyed in a moment;
they are swept away by terrors.
20 It will be like waking from a dream.
Lord, when you rise up, they will disappear.
21 When my heart was sad
and I was angry,
22 I was senseless and stupid.
I acted like an animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you;
you have held my hand.
24 You guide me with your advice,
and later you will receive me in honor.
25 I have no one in heaven but you;
I want nothing on earth besides you.
26 My body and my mind may become weak,
but God is my strength.
He is mine forever.
27 Those who are far from God will die;
you destroy those who are unfaithful.
28 But I am close to God, and that is good.
The Lord God is my protection.
I will tell all that you have done.
God’s Message to Babylon
21 This is a message about the Desert by the Sea:[a]
Disaster is coming from the desert
like wind blowing in the south.
It is coming from a terrible country.
2 I have seen a terrible vision.
I see traitors turning against you
and people taking your wealth.
Elam, attack the people!
Media, surround the city and attack it!
I will bring an end to the pain the city causes.
3 I saw those terrible things, and now I am in pain;
my pains are like the pains of giving birth.
What I hear makes me very afraid;
what I see causes me to shake with fear.
4 I am worried,
and I am shaking with fear.
My pleasant evening
has become a night of fear.
5 They set the table;
they spread the rugs;
they eat and drink.
Leaders, stand up.
Prepare the shields for battle!
6 The Lord said to me,
“Go, place a lookout for the city
and have him report what he sees.
7 If he sees chariots and teams of horses,
donkeys, or camels,
he should pay very close attention.”
8 Then the lookout called out,
“My master, each day I stand in the watchtower watching;
every night I have been on guard.
9 Look, I see a man coming in a chariot
with a team of horses.”
The man gives back the answer,
“Babylon has fallen. It has fallen!
All the statues of her gods
lie broken on the ground.”
10 My people are crushed like grain on the threshing floor.
My people, I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord All-Powerful,
from the God of Israel.
God’s Message to Edom
11 This is a message about Dumah:[b]
Someone calls to me from Edom,
“Watchman, how much of the night is left?
Watchman, how much longer will it be night?”
12 The watchman answers,
“Morning is coming, but then night will come again.
If you have something to ask,
then come back and ask.”
God’s Message to Arabia
13 This is a message about Arabia:
A group of traders from Dedan
spent the night near some trees in Arabia.
14 They gave water to thirsty travelers;
the people of Tema gave food
to those who were escaping.
15 They were running from swords,
from swords ready to kill,
from bows ready to shoot,
from a hard battle.
16 This is what the Lord said to me: “In one year all the glory of the country of Kedar will be gone. (This is a year as a hired helper counts time.) 17 At that time only a few of the archers, the soldiers of Kedar, will be left alive.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
False Teachers
2 There used to be false prophets among God’s people, just as you will have some false teachers in your group. They will secretly teach things that are wrong—teachings that will cause people to be lost. They will even refuse to accept the Master, Jesus, who bought their freedom. So they will bring quick ruin on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil ways and say evil things about the way of truth. 3 Those false teachers only want your money, so they will use you by telling you lies. Their judgment spoken against them long ago is still coming, and their ruin is certain.
4 When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell and put them in caves[a] of darkness where they are being held for judgment. 5 And God punished the world long ago when he brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah, who preached about being right with God, and seven other people with him. 6 And God also destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah[b] by burning them until they were ashes. He made those cities an example of what will happen to those who are against God. 7 But he saved Lot from those cities. Lot, a good man, was troubled because of the filthy lives of evil people. 8 (Lot was a good man, but because he lived with evil people every day, his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.) 9 So the Lord knows how to save those who serve him when troubles come. He will hold evil people and punish them, while waiting for the Judgment Day. 10 That punishment is especially for those who live by doing the evil things their sinful selves want and who hate authority.
These false teachers are bold and do anything they want. They are not afraid to speak against the angels. 11 But even the angels, who are much stronger and more powerful than false teachers, do not accuse them with insults before[c] the Lord. 12 But these people speak against things they do not understand. They are like animals that act without thinking, animals born to be caught and killed. And, like animals, these false teachers will be destroyed. 13 They have caused many people to suffer, so they themselves will suffer. That is their pay for what they have done. They take pleasure in openly doing evil, so they are like dirty spots and stains among you. They delight in deceiving you while eating meals with you. 14 Every time they look at a woman they want her, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into the trap of sin, and they have taught their hearts to be greedy. God will punish them! 15 These false teachers left the right road and lost their way, following the way Balaam went. Balaam was the son of Beor, who loved being paid for doing wrong. 16 But a donkey, which cannot talk, told Balaam he was sinning. It spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the prophet’s crazy thinking.
17 Those false teachers are like springs without water and clouds blown by a storm. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them. 18 They brag with words that mean nothing. By their evil desires they lead people into the trap of sin—people who are just beginning to escape from others who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them. 20 They were made free from the evil in the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they return to evil things and those things control them, then it is worse for them than it was before. 21 Yes, it would be better for them to have never known the right way than to know it and to turn away from the holy teaching that was given to them. 22 What they did is like this true saying: “A dog goes back to what it has thrown up,”[d] and, “After a pig is washed, it goes back and rolls in the mud.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.