M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord kills Nadab and Abihu
10 Nadab and Abihu were sons of Aaron.[a] They put hot material in the pots that they used to burn incense. They threw incense over the hot material. They offered the incense to the Lord. This was a wrong thing to do. The Lord had not told them that they should do it. So it was wrong. 2 The Lord was angry and he sent fire to burn them. They died there in front of the Lord's altar. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord said,
“People may come near to me. But those people must see that I am holy.
All the people must give honour to me.” ’
Aaron did not reply.
4 Mishael and Elzaphan were sons of Aaron's father's brother, Uzziel. Moses said to them, ‘Carry Nadab and Abihu away from the altar. Take your cousins outside the camp.’ 5 Nadab and Abihu were still wearing their robes. Mishael and Elzaphan carried Nadab and Abihu outside the camp. Moses had told them that they must do that.
6 Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, ‘Comb your hair. Do not tear your clothes. If you do that, you will die. And the Lord will be angry with all the people. But Israel's people can show that they are sad. They are sad because the Lord has killed Nadab and Abihu with fire. 7 If you go away from the door of the Tent of Meeting you will die. You will die because the Lord's holy oil is on you.’ So Aaron and his sons did as Moses had said.
8 The Lord then said to Aaron, 9 ‘Do not drink wine before you go into the Tent of Meeting. And do not drink anything that contains alcohol. If you do, you will die. This rule is for you and for all your sons and grandsons. 10 You must know what is holy. And you must know what is not holy. You must know what you can use. And you must know what you must not use to worship me. 11 You must teach Israel's people all the rules that I, the Lord, gave to them by Moses.’
12 Moses said to Aaron and to his two other sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘The grain offering is most holy. Take the part that you did not burn in front of the Lord. And make it into bread. Do not use yeast. Take it to the side of the altar and eat it. 13 Eat it in a holy place. The Lord has said that it is your part of the grain offering. It is for you and for your sons. 14 You and your sons and daughters can eat the meat of the ribs that you held up to God. And all your family can eat the top part of the leg. Eat the meat in a place that is clean and ready for God's use. It is your part of the people's friendship offering. 15 Bring the top of the leg and the meat of the ribs. Lift them up to the Lord. The Lord has given them to you and to your children. Lift them up with the fat parts of the burnt offering. He told you that you should do this.’
16 Moses looked for the goat that was to atone for the people's sin. Moses was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron. He was angry because they had burnt the goat. 17 Moses said to them, ‘This gift was for the Lord. It was a very holy gift. It was to atone for the people's sins. Why did you not take it to the holy place and eat it? 18 You did not bring the blood into the holy place. I told you that you must eat its meat in the Tent of Meeting.’ 19 Aaron said to Moses, ‘My sons sacrificed their gifts to the Lord today. But very bad things have happened to me today. I would not have given the Lord any pleasure if I had eaten the sin offering today.’ 20 When Moses heard this, he was not angry any longer.
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
Trust the Lord to keep you safe
11 I have run to the Lord to keep me safe.
So do not say this to me:
‘Fly away like a bird to the hills![a]
2 See what the wicked people are doing!
They are preparing their bows and arrows.
They are hiding in dark places,
to shoot their arrows at good, honest people.
3 When the law no longer has authority,
righteous people can do nothing!’
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
He rules from his throne in heaven.
He carefully watches what people are doing.
He knows about each person.
5 The Lord watches both good people and wicked people.
Good people please him,
but he hates wicked people and cruel people.
6 He will send hot coal and sulphur
to fall like rain on wicked people.
A dangerous wind will be the punishment that they deserve.
7 The Lord always does what is right.
He loves people to do good things.
Those who do what is right will know that God loves them.
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
A prayer for help
12 Lord, please help me!
All the good people have gone away!
No kind or faithful people remain.
2 Everybody tells lies to one another.
When they say nice things,
they do it to deceive their friends.
3 Lord, please shut their mouths!
When they deceive people or they boast,
stop them doing that!
4 They say:
‘Nobody can tell us what to do!
We will say what we like to get what we want!’
5 But the Lord says:
‘Now I will do something!
I know the cruel things that wicked people do to poor people.
When weak people cry with pain, I hear them.
So I will make them safe,
as they want me to do for them.’
6 The Lord's promises are true.
We can trust them,
because they are pure.
They are as pure as silver
that people have put in a hot fire seven times.[b]
7 Yes Lord, you will take care of the poor people.
You will always keep each one of them safe
from all those evil people.
8 But if people praise evil things,
then wicked people will boast more and more.
More of Solomon's proverbs
25 These are more of Solomon's proverbs.[a] Hezekiah's men wrote them down when Hezekiah was king of Judah.[b]
2 God hides things because he is great. But great kings can explain things.
3 You can never know all the thoughts of a king. They go high above the sky and deep below the earth.
4 If you remove dirt from silver, a worker can use it to make a beautiful thing. 5 In the same way, you should keep wicked people away from the king. Then he will rule in a right way.
6 When you stand in front of the king, do not be proud. Do not stand where the important people stand. 7 Then it will be good if the king says to you, ‘Come and sit up here, near me.’ That would be better than if he sends you away while his officers watch.
8 If you see something bad happen, do not quickly go and tell a judge. Your neighbour may show that you are wrong. Then you will be ashamed. You will not know what to do.
9 If you argue with your neighbour, do not tell his secrets to other people. 10 If you do that, everyone will know about it. Then you will be ashamed for your whole life.
11 A wise word that you speak at the right time is a beautiful thing. It is like a gold apple on a silver plate. 12 When a wise person warns you, that is also a beautiful thing. It is like a gold ear-ring or a gold necklace.
13 When a faithful servant takes a message for his master, his master will have peace in his mind. It will keep him cool, like snow in the middle of summer.
14 Some people promise things, but they never do anything. Those people are like clouds and wind that do not bring any rain.
15 If you are patient, you may make a ruler change his mind. If you speak a quiet word, you can remove a difficult problem.
16 When you find honey, never eat more than you need. If you eat too much, you will become very sick.
17 Do not visit your neighbour's house too often. He may see you too much and he will start to hate you.
18 Some people may tell lies about their neighbour in court. Those people are like dangerous weapons, like sharp swords or arrows.
19 If you are in trouble and you trust someone who is not honest, it will not help you. He will be as useless as a bad tooth or a broken leg.
20 If you sing to a very sad man to make him happy, it only gives him more pain. It is like you are taking away his coat on a cold day, or you are putting vinegar on his wound.
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him some water to drink. 22 If you help him, he will become ashamed, and the Lord will bless you with good things.
23 When the wind blows from the north, it brings rain. In the same way, when somebody tells other people's secrets, it brings anger.
24 It is better to live on the roof of your house than to live with a wife who always argues.
25 If you receive good news from a far away country, it is like cool water when you are tired and thirsty.
26 If you put dirt in a well, its good water becomes bad. It is the same with a righteous person who agrees to do wicked things.
27 It is bad for you to eat too much honey. If you always want people to praise you, it is also bad for you.
28 Somebody who cannot control his anger is in danger. He is like a city that no longer has a strong wall round it.
A life that makes God happy
4 Christian friends, there are a few more things that we need to say. We have already taught you how to live in a way that pleases God. And we know that you are living in that way. Now we ask you to continue to live like that even more. On behalf of the Lord Jesus, we seriously ask you to do this. 2 You surely remember what we taught you with the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 This is how God wants you to live: As his own people, he wants you to be completely good. So you must not have sex in a way that is wrong. 4 Each of you men must learn to rule his own body properly. Then you will do only what is pure and right. 5 People who do not know God strongly want to have sex in a wrong way. They cannot control themselves. You must not be like those people. 6 No man among you should ever have sex with the wife of a Christian friend. That would be the same as if you robbed him. It would be a bad thing to do against him. Remember that the Lord will punish everyone who does things like that. We have already told you that. We warned you very seriously about it.
7 God has chosen us to belong to him. He does not want us to do disgusting things. As his people, he wants us to be holy. 8 So do not refuse to accept what I am saying. If you do, it is not just a person that you refuse to obey. You are refusing to obey God. And God is the one who has given his Holy Spirit to you.
9 But I do not need to write to you about how you should love other believers. God himself has taught you how to love each other. 10 Certainly, you love all the believers in all the region of Macedonia. And now we ask you, as our Christian friends, ‘Please love each other more and more.’ 11 Try very much to live at peace with other people. Work hard at your own job. We have already told you that you must do these things. 12 If you live in this way, other people who are not believers will respect you. Also, you will not have to ask anyone else to give you the things that you need.
Jesus' return
13 Our Christian friends, we want you to understand properly about your friends who have died.[a] Then you will not continue to be sad about them. People who do not hope for any life after death are sad when their friends die. But you should not be upset like those other people. 14 We believe that Jesus died and he rose again after death. So we also believe that people who have died as Christians will rise again. When God brings Jesus back, he will take the Christians to go with Jesus.
15 We are telling you the message that the Lord has given to us. This is what will happen when the Lord returns. Those of us who are still alive will not go to meet the Lord first. We will not go before those people who have already died. 16 On that day, the Lord himself will come down from heaven. He will shout with authority. People will hear the voice of the leader of God's angels. They will hear the sound of God's trumpet. Then those people who have died as Christians will become alive again. They will be the first people to rise up. 17 After that, those of us who are still alive will join together with them. God will suddenly take us up into the clouds. In that way, we will all meet the Lord in the sky. So we will all be with the Lord for ever. 18 Because this message is true, tell it to each other. Help one another to be strong, not sad.
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