M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord gives rules about food to the people
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 ‘Some animals walk on the land. Tell Israel's people which of these animals they can eat. 3 Each foot on the animal must have two separate parts. The animal must eat its food and then it must bring the food back into its mouth. And then it must eat the food again. Some animals eat their food twice and they have feet with two parts. You can eat those animals.
4 Some animals have feet that have two separate parts. But they do not eat their food twice. Other animals eat their food twice. But their feet do not have two separate parts. You must not eat those animals. The camel eats its food twice. But its feet are not in two separate parts. The people must not eat the camel. 5 The rock badger eats its food twice. But its feet are not in two separate parts. They must not eat the rock badger. 6 The rabbit eats its food twice. But its feet are not in two separate parts. They must not eat the rabbit. 7 The pig's feet are in two parts. But when the pig eats its food, it does not bring the food back into its mouth. It does not eat it twice. The people must not eat the pig. 8 They must not touch the dead bodies of those animals. They must not eat their meat. They are not clean for you to eat.
9 They can eat some animals that live in the sea or in the river. Those animals must have fins and scales on their bodies.[a] 10 They must not eat any other animals from the sea or the river. They must keep away from them. 11 They must not touch the dead bodies of the animals from the sea or the river. They must not eat the meat from those other animals. 12 Animals from the sea and the river may have fins and scales on their bodies. Those are the only ones that you can eat. Those without fins or scales are unclean.
13 They must not eat some birds because they are not clean. They must not eat either the eagle or the vulture. 14 They must not eat the buzzard or the kite. 15 They must not eat the raven. 16 They must not eat any owl, seagull or hawk. 17 They must not eat the cormorant. 18 They must not eat the osprey. 19 They must not eat the heron, the hoopoe or the bat. The people must not eat them nor touch their dead bodies. They are not clean.[b]
20 Some insects fly in the air and walk on the ground. The people must not eat them. 21 Some insects can fly. And they have legs that can jump. They can eat those insects. 22 They can eat any of these. They include the locust, the cricket and the grasshopper. 23 They must not eat any other flying insect that has legs.
24 A person may touch the dead body of an animal that is not clean. If he does, that person is not clean either. They must keep him separate from the other people until the evening. 25 He must wash his clothes immediately.
26 An animal might not have feet that are in two separate parts. It is wrong to touch the dead body of this animal. Some animals do not bring food back into their mouths and eat it again. It is wrong to touch the dead bodies of these animals. 27 Some animals walk on four feet. It is wrong to touch the dead body of an animal that has paws. 28 A person who picks up the dead body of these animals must wash his clothes immediately. They must keep him separate from the people until the evening.
29 Some animals that walk on the ground are not clean. You must not touch a weasel, a rat or a mouse. 30 You must not touch any kind of lizard. 31 A person might touch the dead body of one of those animals. If he does, he will not be clean. So they must keep him separate from the people until evening. 32 A dead animal may fall onto something that someone made from wood, cloth or skin. That thing becomes unclean. A person must put it into water until the evening. Then it will be clean. 33 A dead animal might fall into a pot. Then the pot and the things in it are not clean. The person must break the pot. 34 The food or water from the pot is not clean. A person must not drink it or eat any of that food. Water from the pot may have touched some food. If it did, that food is not clean. You must not eat it. 35 If a dead animal falls onto a cooking pot, then the pot is not clean. You must break the pot. 36 If a dead animal falls into a fresh water stream, the stream stays clean. The pot that a person uses to get fresh water from the stream is clean. 37 If a dead animal falls onto some seeds, they stay clean. 38 A person might pour water on the seeds. A dead animal might fall on the wet seeds. Then those seeds are not clean.
39 An animal that is good for food might die. A man might touch its dead body. If he does, they must keep him separate from the people until the evening. 40 If a person eats meat from the body of the dead animal, he must wash his clothes. He will not be clean until the evening. If a person picks up the body of the dead animal, he must wash his clothes. He will not be clean until the evening.
41 The people must not eat small animals that move across the ground. 42 This means animals that pass across the ground on their stomachs. It also means animals that walk on four legs or many legs. 43 The people must not touch them or eat them. 44 God says, “I am the Lord your God. I am holy. Make yourselves holy. Do not touch any small animal that moves across the ground. If you do, you will not be clean or holy 45 I am the Lord who brought you away from Egypt. I became your God. So be holy because I am holy.” ’
46 These rules are about animals, birds and all animals that move in water or on the ground. 47 The people must learn to know which animals are clean. They must recognize which animals they can eat. And they must recognize which animals they must not eat.[c]
What a woman must do when she has a baby
12 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Say this to Israel's people. When a boy is born, his mother is not clean for seven days. When she is bleeding each month, the rule is the same. She is not clean. 3 Eight days after he is born, they must circumcise the boy. 4 The woman must wait for 35 days after the boy is born. All this time she must not touch anything that is holy. She must not go into the Tent of Meeting. After this time, she will become clean.
5 After a girl is born, her mother will not be clean for two weeks. The rule is the same as for each month, when she is bleeding. She will not be clean then. She must wait 66 days after a girl is born. Then she will become clean.
6 When the days to wait are finished, the woman must come to the door of the Tent of Meeting. She must bring to the priest a sheep that is one year old for a burnt offering. And she must bring a bird for a sin offering. The bird must be a pigeon or a dove. These are gifts to God. 7 The priest will offer the gifts to the Lord. Then the woman will become clean. These are the rules at the birth of a boy or of a girl.
8 If the woman does not have money to buy a sheep she can give two doves or pigeons. The priest will use one bird for a sin offering and he will burn the other one. That is how he will make atonement for her. Then she will be clean.’
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
A prayer for help[a]
13 Lord, will you forget about me for ever?
When will you remember to come and help me?
2 My thoughts make me worry all the time.
How long must I continue to be sad?
How long will my enemies continue to win against me?
3 Lord, please listen to me!
I feel that I am nearly dead.
Please give me the strength to live!
4 If I die, my enemies will say,
‘We have won against him!’
My enemies will be very happy if I fall.
5 But I will trust you because of your faithful love.
Please make me safe,
so that I can be happy and thank you.
6 Yes, I will sing to praise the Lord,
because he will surely help me.
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
God rules the world
14 Only fools say to themselves, ‘There is no God.’
People like that do bad and evil things.
None of them do things that are good and right.
2 The Lord is looking down from heaven.
He looks at the people of the world,
to see if there are any wise people among them.
He looks to see if anyone wants to know God.
3 But everyone has turned away from God.
They have all become evil.
Not even one person does things that are right!
4 Will those evil people never learn?
They destroy my people,
as if they are eating a meal.
They never pray to the Lord.
5 Look at them! Now they are very afraid!
They see that God is with the people who obey him.
6 You wicked people tried to bring shame to poor people.
But the Lord keeps poor people safe.
7 The Lord is the one who can save Israel's people.
Please Lord, come now from your home in Zion!
When the Lord makes his people strong again,
Jacob's descendants will be happy!
Yes, Israel's people will shout with joy![b]
26 It is not right to give honour to a fool.
It is as silly as snow that falls in summer,
or rain that falls at the time of harvest.
2 If someone curses you for no reason, it will not stay with you.
Their words will be like birds that never stop to rest.
3 There are right ways to punish a horse or a donkey.
The right way to punish a fool is to beat him with a stick.
4 If someone asks you a silly question, do not give him a silly answer.
Be careful that you do not become as silly as he is.
5 If someone asks you a silly question, give him a silly answer.
Then he will know that he is not as wise as he thinks he is.[a]
6 If you send a message with a fool, there will be trouble.
It would be better to cut off your own feet!
7 A lame person cannot use his legs properly.
A fool cannot use a proverb properly.
8 If you tie a stone into a sling, it will be a useless weapon.
It is also useless to give honour to a fool.
9 A fool who speaks a proverb is like a drunk person with a thorn in his finger.
He does not know what to do with it.
10 A soldier who shoots his arrows everywhere is useless.
It is the same if you ask a stupid person to do work for you.
11 A sick dog goes back to eat what it could not keep in its stomach.
A fool goes back and makes the same mistakes again.
12 Some men think that they are already wise.
A fool is more likely to learn something than they are.
13 A lazy person does not go out of his house.
He says, ‘There is a lion outside in the street!’
14 A lazy person turns over in his bed,
like a door that continues to open and close.
15 A lazy person pushes his hand into his bowl of food.
But then he is too tired to lift his hand up to his mouth.
16 A lazy person thinks that he is very wise.
He thinks that he is wiser than seven people who can answer questions well.
17 When strangers are arguing, only a fool joins the argument.
It would be better if he took hold of a wild dog's ears!
18 A crazy man may shoot sharp arrows to kill people.
19 If a person deceives his friend and then laughs about it,
he is as bad as that crazy person.
20 Without wood, a fire stops burning.
When people do not tell their friends' secrets, quarrels stop.
21 But when a fire has wood, it continues to burn.
When people love to quarrel, there will always be arguments.
22 We love to hear other people's secrets.
They seem like good food that we can really enjoy.
23 When a hypocrite says nice words,
that is like a cheap pot with silver paint.
24 A hypocrite can say nice things to hide his thoughts,
but he is still thinking about ways to hurt people.
25 Do not believe him when he speaks kind words.
His mind is still full of evil things.
26 He may not seem to hate people, but he is telling lies.
In a public meeting, everyone will recognize his sins.
27 If a man digs a deep hole as a trap, he will fall into it himself.
If a man pushes a stone to fall on someone, it will fall back on him.
28 If you tell lies, it shows that you hate other people.
If you deceive people with sweet words, you will destroy them.
We must be ready for Jesus to return
5 Friends, we do not need to write anything to you about the dates and times when these things will happen. 2 You know very well about how the great day of the Lord will happen. That day will surprise people very much, like when a robber comes in the night. 3 At that time, people will be saying, ‘We are safe and there is no trouble for us.’ But then, when they are not ready for it, great punishment will suddenly happen to them. It will be impossible for them to run away. Pain will suddenly come to them, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
4 But you, our Christian friends, know about these things. You are not like people who live in the dark. So when the great day of the Lord happens, it should not suddenly surprise you, like a robber might surprise you. 5 All of you are people who belong to the light and to the day. We who are believers do not belong to the night or to the dark. 6 So we must watch carefully. We should be like people who stay awake. We should not be like other people who are sleeping. 7 It is at night that people sleep. It is at night that people become drunk.
8 But we belong to the day, not to the night. So we should think clearly. We must prepare ourselves like a soldier who puts on his armour. We must continue to trust God and to love him. That will be like a metal shirt that keeps our body safe. We must also continue to hope that God will save us. That will be like a strong hat that keeps our head safe.
9 God did not choose us as his people so that he could be angry with us. He chose us so that he could save us because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. 10 Jesus died on our behalf so that we can live together with him. It does not matter whether we are alive or dead when he returns. We will all go to live with him. 11 Because of that, you should help each other to become stronger as believers. I know that you are already doing that.
Paul finishes his letter
12 Our friends, we ask you to respect your leaders who work hard among you. They lead you and they teach you what is right on the Lord's behalf. 13 Show them how valuable they are to you. And love them very much because of the work that they do. Live at peace among yourselves.
14 Friends, you must warn lazy people that they should work.[a] If people are afraid, help them to be brave. If people are weak, take care of them. Be patient with everyone.
15 If someone does something bad against you, do not do anything bad against them in return. Never do that. Instead, always try to do good things that will help one other and help everyone else.
16 Always be happy. 17 Pray at all times. 18 Whatever may happen to you, continue to thank God. God wants you to do that, because you belong to Christ Jesus. 19 Do not stop the work of God's Spirit. 20 When people speak messages on God's behalf, do not refuse to listen. 21 Instead, think carefully about everything, to see if it is true. Remember to obey anything that is good. 22 But keep away from any kind of bad thing.
23 I pray that God will help you to be completely good, as his people should be. He is the one who gives us peace in our minds. I pray that he will take care of you in every way, in your spirit, in your soul and in your body. Then you will not be guilty of anything that is bad, when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 24 God has chosen you to be his people. We can trust him to do what he has promised to do. So he will do all this for you.
25 Our Christian friends, please pray for us. 26 Say ‘hello’ to all the believers on our behalf, and kiss them as Christian brothers and sisters.
27 I tell you very seriously on the Lord's behalf, please read this letter to all the believers there. 28 I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to you.
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