M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules for the Seasons and for the special days
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell Israel's people about the special days when they must worship the Lord. They are holy days. The Israelites must come together and have a feast on these days.
3 There are six days when a person can work. The seventh day is the Sabbath day. A person must not do any work on that day. It is a day when people meet together for worship. You must not work in any place where you live. It is the Sabbath to the Lord, a day of rest.
Passover and bread without yeast
4 There are other special days. They are holy feasts. On these days you must tell the people how to obey the Lord's rules. 5 One special day is the 14th day of the first month. When the sun goes down, the Passover to the Lord begins. 6 The 15th day of the first month, the Feast of Flat Bread begins. It is a feast to the Lord. For seven days the people must eat bread that has no yeast in it. 7 On the first day the people must meet together and they must not work. 8 For seven days the people must give burnt offerings to the Lord. On the seventh day they must stop work and they must worship the Lord.’[a]
Gifts of new grain
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 ‘Tell Israel's people this. They will go into the land that I will give to them. And then they will harvest the grain. They must take the first part of the harvest in their arms. They must give this to the priest. 11 The priest will lift it to the Lord. Then the Lord will accept their gift. The priest will do this on the day after the Sabbath day. 12 On the same day the priest will bring a young sheep that is perfect to the Lord. It must be one year old. It is a gift from the people. 13 He will also bring two tenths (2/10) of an ephah (about 4 litres) of the best flour mixed with oil. He will burn the gift as a sacrifice. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure. The people must also give a ¼ hin (about 1 litre) of wine as a gift to God. 14 The people must not eat any of the new grain until they have given their gift to God. They and their children must do this now and always. They must do it in any place that they live.
15 On the day after the Sabbath day the people will sacrifice their gifts to God. After this, they must count seven weeks. 16 They must count 50 days until the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then they must give another gift of new grain to the Lord. 17 Each family must bring two loaves of bread as a special gift to the Lord. They must make the bread with two tenths (2/10) of an ephah (about 4 litres) of good flour and yeast. This gift is from the first of their harvest fruits. 18 With the bread, all the people must bring seven perfect sheep. They must be males, each one year old. They must bring a bull. They must also bring two older male sheep. The priest will burn the grain and the animals as a gift to the Lord. The smell of them while they are burning will give the Lord pleasure. 19 The priest must sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering. The people must give two young sheep. They must be one year old. They are a gift to God. 20 The priest will lift the animals and the bread to the Lord. They are a holy offering to the Lord. They are for the priest. 21 On this day, the people must not do any work. They must not work anywhere that they live. It is a special day to God now and for all time to come.[b]
22 When the people harvest the grain, they must not cut it to the edge of the field. They must not pick up any grain that falls. Some grain must remain in the field. It is for the poor people and for foreign people. I am the Lord your God.’
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 ‘Tell Israel's people this. On the first day of the seventh month, they must rest. It is a special day. They must worship together with the sound of trumpets. 25 They must not work. They must burn an offering to the Lord.’
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 ‘The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. On that day, the people must come together. They must not eat any food. They must make an offering of food to the Lord. 28 They must not do any work. It is a holy day. On this special day, the leader of the priests must come near to the Lord. He will make atonement for the sins of the people. 29 You must punish any person who eats any food on that day. Send them away from my people. 30 I will kill any person who works on that day. 31 Nobody must work on that day. This rule is for now and for all time to come. You must obey it in any place where you are living. 32 It is a Sabbath rest for all the people. They must not eat any food. They must rest from the evening of the ninth day until the evening of the tenth day.’
The Feast of Huts[c]
33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 ‘Tell Israel's people that the Feast of Huts will start on the 15th day of the seventh month. The feast will continue for seven days, as people worship the Lord. 35 The first day is a special day. The people must not do any work. 36 For seven days each person must give a gift to the Lord. The eighth day is holy. The people must come together and they must give a burnt offering to the Lord. This is the last day of the feast. The people must not do any work on that day.
37 These are the rules for the special days of the Lord. You must tell people that they must bring offerings to the Lord on these days. They will bring gifts for burnt offerings each day. They must bring offerings of grain, animals and wine. 38 These are not the usual Sabbath gifts to the Lord. They are not gifts to give thanks or for promises to the Lord. But they are extra gifts for special days.
39 When the people have picked the grain, they can enjoy seven feast days to the Lord. The special days will begin on the 15th day of the seventh month. On the first day and on the eighth day they can rest. 40 On the first day, they must take fruit and leaves from the trees. Then for seven days they must praise the Lord. 41 They must do this to worship the Lord for seven days of each year. They must obey this rule in the seventh month now, and for all the years to come. 42 All Israel's people must live in huts for seven days. 43 Your descendants in the future will know that God brought Israel's people out of Egypt. They will know that he caused them to live in huts as they travelled through the wilderness. I am the Lord, your God.’
44 Moses told the people all that the Lord had told him.
David wrote this song. He asks God to bless the Temple.
Thank you, Lord[a]
30 Lord, I will praise you,
because you have saved me from death.
You have not let my enemies laugh at me.
2 Lord, my God, I called to you for help,
and you have made me well again.
3 Lord, you pulled me up
out of the deep hole of death.
You saved me
from among those who are going into the grave.
4 Sing to the Lord,
you people who trust him.
Praise his holy name.
5 His anger continues only for a moment,
but he is kind to us for our whole life.
You may be sad all through the night,
but in the morning, you will be happy again.[b]
6 When I was feeling safe and strong,
I thought, ‘Nothing can ever destroy me.’
7 But Lord, it was you who made my kingdom strong,
because you are so kind.
But then you turned away from me,
and I became very afraid.[c]
8 I called to you for help, Lord.
I asked you to be kind to me, my Lord.
9 If I go down into the deep hole of death,
that will not help you!
My dead body cannot praise you there!
It cannot tell people to trust you!
10 Lord, please listen to me!
Please be kind to me!
Lord, please be my helper!
11 Now you have caused me to stop crying,
so that I dance instead!
I do not need to wear sackcloth,
because I am no longer sad.
Instead, you have made me very happy.[d]
12 So I am truly happy and I will sing to praise you.
I cannot stay quiet!
Lord, my God,
I will continue to thank you for ever.
6 I have seen another terrible thing that happens on the earth. It causes people to have a lot of trouble. 2 God may give someone lots of money and valuable things. People also respect that person. He has everything that he wants. He has worked hard to get them. But God does not allow him to enjoy those things. Instead, a stranger enjoys all that person's things. This has no purpose. It is a terrible thing to happen to someone.
3 Someone may have many children and he may live for a long time. But even if he lives until he is very old, he may not enjoy a good life. After he dies, people may not bury him with honour. His life would be useless. Even a child that is dead at birth is happier than that person. That is what I think. 4 The child's birth has no purpose. He immediately goes to a dark place. Nobody ever speaks his name. 5 He never sees the light of day. He never knows anything. But he enjoys more rest than that rich person. 6 A rich person might live for 2,000 years. But if he never enjoys his riches, it would be better if he died at birth. Remember that after death, we all go into our graves.
7 The reason people work so hard is to get food.
But they never have enough to eat.
8 Does a wise person have a better life than a foolish person?
No, he does not!
Does it help a poor person if he knows how to live well?
No!
9 It is good to enjoy the things that we have.
That is better than to want more things all the time.
If you always try to get more things, that has no purpose.
It is like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
10 Everything that is here today already has its name.
Everyone knows what we humans are like.
It is useless to argue with someone who is more powerful than we are.
11 If we talk too much,
we will say silly things.
So it will not help anyone to talk with many words.
12 Nobody knows the best way for us to live our lives.
We live for only a few years
and our lives seem to have no purpose.
Our lives quickly disappear, like a shadow.
Nobody can tell us what will happen on the earth after our death.
A good soldier for Christ
2 Timothy, you are like my own child. Let God make you strong. He is kind, so trust him to help you, because you belong to Christ Jesus. 2 You have heard the message that I have taught. Many other people also heard it and they agree that it is true. Now you must tell the same message to other people who will be able to teach it to even more people. They should be people that you can trust as honest people and who can teach well.
3 Be patient through the troubles that we Christians have. Be brave and strong, like a good soldier for Christ Jesus. 4 Any soldier who fights in a war does not become busy with other things. He only wants to fight well to make his captain happy. 5 It is the same with an athlete who runs a race.[a] He cannot win the race unless he obeys the rules. 6 A farmer works hard to grow plants for food. So he should be the first person to receive some of that food. 7 Think carefully about what I am saying to you. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.
8 Jesus Christ is a descendant of King David.[b] God caused him to become alive again after his death. Remember that! These facts are part of the good news that I tell people. 9 And I have many troubles because I tell that good news to people. They have even put me in a prison, like someone who has done something bad. But nobody can keep God's message in a prison!
10 So I continue to be patient and brave during all these troubles. I do that so that I can help the people that God has chosen to belong to him. I want God to save them too, because of what Christ Jesus has done for them. As a result, they will live with God for ever, in the beautiful place where he lives.
11 We all know that this is true:
‘If we have died with Christ in this world,
we will also live with him in the future world.[c]
12 If we continue to be strong during troubles here,
we will also rule with him there in heaven.
But if we say that we do not know Christ,
he will also say that he does not know us.
13 Even if we no longer trust him,
he will still be someone that people can trust.
He will always remain true to his nature.’[d]
A good worker for God
14 Continue to tell these things to God's people there, so that they remember them. Use God's authority and warn them not to quarrel about words. To quarrel about little things does not help anyone. Instead, it destroys those people who listen.
15 Always try very much to serve God in a way that makes him happy. Then he will accept you as a good worker that he can trust. You must teach God's true message correctly. Then you will have no reason to be ashamed of your work. 16 But stay away from people who talk about silly things that are not important to God. A message like that causes people to live more and more in a way that does not please God. 17 It causes people to become sick in their spirits. More and more people become sick as a result. Hymenaeus and Philetus are two of the people who teach that kind of false message. 18 They no longer teach God's true message. They say that God will not raise dead people any more, because he has already given life to dead people. In this way they have confused the minds of some people, so that they no longer believe in Christ.
19 But the group of true believers remains strong, like the foundation under a building. God has written his message there. It says, ‘The Lord knows who his own people are.’[e] It also says, ‘Everyone who says that he belongs to the Lord must stop doing bad things.’
20 In a big house, there are different kinds of dishes. There are some dishes that people have made from gold or from silver. They see those dishes as valuable things. There are also dishes that people have made from wood or from clay. Those dishes are not special things and they may get dirty. 21 It is like that with people who serve God as their Master. People who keep themselves clean from those bad things will be like valuable dishes. Their master can use them for a special purpose. They will be ready for him to use them for every kind of good work.
22 Be careful not to do the kind of bad things that young people often want to do. Instead, always try to do what is right and fair. Continue to trust God. Love other people and live in peace with them. Join with people who are clean inside and who pray to the Lord.
23 Do not join with people who want to argue about silly things that do not mean anything. You know that silly things like that only cause people to quarrel. 24 As the Lord's servant, you must not quarrel. Instead, you must be kind to everyone. You must be able to teach them well. And you must be patient when people cause you to have trouble. 25 When people speak against God's true message, teach them carefully. Help them to understand what is right. Maybe God will change how they think so that they believe the true message. 26 Their minds will start to think clearly. It is the Devil who has made them believe wrong things. He has made them do what he wants. Now they can get free from his power.
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