M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Promises Are Important
27 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Someone might make a special promise to the Lord. He might promise to give himself or another person as a servant to the Lord. That person will then begin to serve the Lord in a special way. The priest must set a certain price for that person. That is the price that would have to be paid to free the person from his special promise to the Lord. 3 The price for a man 20 to 60 years old is about 1¼ pounds of silver. (You must use the measure as set by the Holy Place.) 4 The price for a woman 20 to 60 years old is about 12 ounces of silver. 5 The price for a man 5 to 20 years old is about 8 ounces of silver. The price for a woman 5 to 20 years old is about 4 ounces of silver. 6 The price for a baby boy 1 month to 5 years old is about 2 ounces of silver. For a baby girl the price is about 1½ ounces of silver. 7 The price for a man 60 years old or older is about 6 ounces of silver. The price for a woman 60 years old or older is about 4 ounces of silver.
8 “‘A person might be too poor to pay the price. If he is, bring him to the priest. The priest will decide how much money the person can afford to pay.
Gifts to the Lord
9 “‘Some animals may be used as sacrifices to the Lord. If someone promises to bring one of these animals, it will become holy. 10 That person must not try to put another animal in its place. He must not try to exchange it for something else. He must not try to exchange a good animal for a bad animal. And he must not exchange a bad animal for a good animal. If he tries to exchange animals, both animals will become holy.
11 “‘Unclean animals cannot be offered as sacrifices to the Lord. Someone might bring one of them to the Lord. If he does, that animal must be brought to the priest. 12 The priest will decide a price for the animal. The price will be according to whether the animal is good or bad. If the priest decides a price, that is the price for the animal. 13 If the person wants to buy back the animal, he must add an additional one-fifth to the price.
Value of a House
14 “‘A person might give his house as holy to the Lord. If he does, the priest must decide its value. The price will be according to whether the house is good or bad. If the priest decides a price, that is the price for the house. 15 But the person who gives the house might want to buy it back. If he does, he must add an additional one-fifth to the price. Then the house will belong to him again.
Value of Land
16 “‘A person might give part of his fields to the Lord. The value of those fields will depend on how much seed is needed to plant them. It will cost about one and one-fourth pounds of silver for each six bushels of barley seed needed. 17 The person might give his field at the year of Jubilee. Then its value will be what the priest decides. 18 But he might give his field after the Jubilee. If he does, the priest must decide the exact price. He must count the number of years to the next year of Jubilee. Then he will use that number to decide the exact price. 19 The person who gave the field might want to buy it back. If he does, he must add one-fifth to that price. Then the field will belong to him again.
20 “‘If he does not buy back the field, it will always belong to the priest. If it is sold to someone else, the first person cannot buy it back. 21 But the person might not buy back the land. If he doesn’t, at the year of Jubilee, it will remain holy to the Lord. It will belong to the priest forever. It will become the property of the priests.
22 “‘Someone may give a field he has bought to the Lord. But it may not be a part of his family land. 23 If he gives a field, the priest must count the years to the next Jubilee. He must decide the price for the land. Then that land will belong to the Lord. 24 At the year of Jubilee, the land will go back to its first owner. It will go back to the family who sold the land.
25 “‘You must use the measure as set by the Holy Place in paying these prices. It weighs two-fifths of an ounce.
Value of Animals
26 “‘People may give cattle and sheep to the Lord. But if an animal is the first one born to its parent, it already belongs to the Lord. So people may not give these animals again. 27 If the animal is unclean, the person must buy it back. The priest will decide the price of the animal. And the person must add one-fifth to that price. If he does not buy it back, the priest must sell it. He will sell it for the price he had decided.
28 “‘There is a special kind of gift that people give to the Lord. It may be a person, animal or field from the family property. That gift cannot be bought back or sold. It is most holy to the Lord.
29 “‘If a person is given for the purpose of being destroyed, he cannot be bought back. He must be put to death.
30 “‘One-tenth of all crops belongs to the Lord. This includes the crops from fields and the fruit from trees. That one-tenth belongs to the Lord. 31 A person might want to get back his tenth. If he does, he must add one-fifth to its price and buy it back.
32 “‘The priest will take every tenth animal from a person’s cattle or sheep. It will belong to the Lord. 33 The owner should not pick out the good animals from the bad. He should not exchange one animal for another. If he does exchange it, both animals will become holy. They cannot be bought back.’”
34 These are the commands the Lord commanded at Mount Sinai. They are for the people of Israel.
Praise God Who Judges and Saves
David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away. And David did leave.
34 I will praise the Lord at all times.
His praise is always on my lips.
2 My whole being praises the Lord.
The poor will hear and be glad.
3 Tell the greatness of the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
4 I asked the Lord for help, and he answered me.
He saved me from all that I feared.
5 Those who go to him for help are happy.
They are never disgraced.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him.
The Lord saved him from all his troubles.
7 The Lord saves those who fear him.
His angel camps around them.
8 Examine and see how good the Lord is.
Happy is the person who trusts the Lord.
9 People who belong to the Lord, fear him!
Those who fear him will have everything they need.
10 Even lions may become weak and hungry.
But those people who go to the Lord for help will have every good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me.
I will teach you to worship the Lord.
12 You must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days.
13 You must not say evil things.
You must not tell lies.
14 Stop doing evil and do good.
Look for peace and work for it.
15 The Lord sees the good people.
He listens to their prayers.
16 But the Lord is against those who do evil.
He makes the world forget them.
17 The Lord hears good people when they cry out to him.
He saves them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 People who do what is right may have many problems.
But the Lord will solve them all.
20 He will protect their very bones.
Not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked people.
Those who hate good people will be judged guilty.
22 But the Lord saves his servants’ lives.
No one who trusts him will be judged guilty.
10 Dead flies will make even perfume smell bad.
In the same way, a little foolishness can ruin
a wise man’s fame for wisdom.
2 A wise man’s heart leads him in the right way.
But the heart of a foolish person leads him in the wrong way.
3 A foolish person is not wise.
It shows in everything he does.
Even as he walks along the road,
he shows everyone how stupid he is.
4 Don’t leave your job
just because the ruler is angry with you.
Remain calm.
It will help correct your mistakes.
5 Here is something else unfair that happens here on earth.
It is the kind of mistake rulers make:
6 Foolish people are given important positions
while rich people are given less important ones.
7 I have seen servants ride on horses
while princes walk beside them on foot.
8 Anyone who digs a pit might fall into it.
Anyone who knocks down a wall might be bitten by a snake.
9 Anyone who moves large stones might be hurt by them.
And anyone who cuts logs might get hurt while doing it.
10 Cutting logs with a dull ax
makes you work harder.
A wise man will sharpen his ax.
In the same way, wisdom can make any job easier.
11 Someone might know how to control snakes.
But what good is such wisdom if the snake has already bitten him?
12 A wise man’s words bring him praise.
But a foolish person’s words will destroy him.
13 A foolish person begins by saying something foolish.
In the end he is saying even crazier things.
14 A foolish person talks too much about what he will do.
No one knows the future.
No one can tell him what will happen after he dies.
15 A foolish person doesn’t know even the most obvious things.
He can’t even find his way back to town.
So he has to wear himself out working.
The Value of Work
16 How terrible it will be for a country
if its king is a child.
How terrible it will be for that country
if its leaders have parties all the time.
17 A country is well off
if its king comes from a good family.
It is good for a country
if its leaders control their eating and drinking.
They should eat and drink for strength,
not to get drunk.
18 If a person is lazy and doesn’t repair the roof,
it will begin to fall.
If he refuses to fix it,
the house will leak.
19 A party makes you feel good.
And wine makes you feel happy.
But both cost you a lot of money.
20 Don’t say or think bad things about the king.
And don’t say bad things about rich people even alone in your bedroom.
A little bird might report it to others.
A bird might fly to them and tell all you said.
Following the True Teaching
2 You must tell everyone what they must do to follow the true teaching. 2 Teach older men to have self-control, to be serious, and to be wise. They should be strong in faith, strong in love, and strong in patience.
3 Also, teach older women to be holy in the way they live. Teach them not to speak against others or have the habit of drinking too much wine. They should teach what is good. 4 In that way they can teach younger women to love their husbands and children. 5 They can teach younger women to be wise and pure, to take care of their homes, to be kind, and to obey their husbands. Then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us.
6 In the same way, tell young men to be wise. 7 You should do good deeds to be an example in every way for young men. When you teach, be honest and serious. 8 And when you speak, speak the truth so that you cannot be criticized. Then anyone who is against you will be ashamed because there is nothing bad that he can say against us.
9 And tell slaves to obey their masters at all times. They should try to please them and not argue with them. 10 They should not steal from them. And they should show their masters that they can be trusted. Slaves should do these things so that in everything they do, they will show that the teaching of God our Savior is good.
11 That is the way we should live, because God’s grace has come. That grace can save every person. 12 It teaches us not to live against God and not to do the evil things the world wants to do. That grace teaches us to live in the present age in a wise and right way—a way that shows that we serve God. 13 We should live like that while we are waiting for the coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our great hope, and he will come with glory. 14 He gave himself for us; he died to free us from all evil. He died to make us pure people who belong only to him—people who are always wanting to do good things.
15 Tell everyone these things. You have full authority. So use that authority to strengthen the people and tell them what they should do. And do not let anyone treat you as if you were not important.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.