M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Altar for Burning Incense
30 “Make an altar out of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 Make it square—18 inches long and 18 inches wide. It must be 36 inches high. Make the corners stick out like horns. These must be one piece with the altar. 3 Cover its top, its sides and its corners with pure gold. And put a gold strip all around the altar. 4 Make two gold rings beneath the gold strip on opposite sides of the altar. Slide poles through these gold rings to carry the altar. 5 Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. 6 Put the altar of incense in front of the curtain. This curtain is in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Put the altar in front of the lid that covers that Ark of the Covenant. There I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning. He will do this when he comes to take care of the oil lamps. 8 He must burn incense again in the evening when he lights the lamps. So incense will burn before the Lord every day from now on. 9 Do not use this altar for offering any other incense or burnt offering. Do not use this altar to offer any kind of grain offering or drink offering. 10 Once a year Aaron must make the altar ready for service to God. He will do it by putting blood on its corners. This is blood of the animal offered to remove sins. He is to do this once a year from now on. This altar belongs completely to God’s service.”
The Tax for the Meeting Tent
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “Count the people of Israel. At that time every person must pay to buy back his life from the Lord. Then no terrible things will happen to the people when you number them. 13 Every person who is counted must pay one-fifth of an ounce of silver. This is set by the Holy Place measure, which weighs two-fifths of an ounce. This amount is a gift to the Lord. 14 Every person who is counted and is 20 years old or older must give this amount to the Lord. 15 A rich person must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce. And a poor person must not give less than one-fifth of an ounce. You are paying this to the Lord to buy back your lives. 16 Gather from the people of Israel this money paid to buy back their lives. Spend it to buy things for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will remind the Lord that the Israelites’ lives have been bought back.”
The Bronze Bowl
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze bowl for washing. Build it on a bronze stand. Put the bowl and stand between the Meeting Tent and the altar. Put water in the bowl. 19 Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with the water from this bowl. 20 Each time, before they enter the Meeting Tent, they must wash with water. This way they will not die. They approach the altar to serve as priests. They offer a sacrifice to the Lord by fire. 21 Each time they do this, they must wash their hands and their feet so they will not die. This is a rule which Aaron and his descendants are to keep from now on.”
Oil for Appointing
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: 12 pounds of liquid myrrh, half that amount (that is, 6 pounds) of sweet-smelling cinnamon, 6 pounds of sweet-smelling cane 24 and 12 pounds of cassia. Weigh all these by the Holy Place measure. Also take 4 quarts of olive oil. 25 Mix all these things like a perfume to make a holy olive oil. This special oil must be put on people and things. Do this to make them ready for service to God. 26 Put this oil on the Meeting Tent and the Ark of the Covenant with my laws in it. 27 Put this oil on the table and all its dishes. And put this oil on the lampstand and all its tools. Put the oil on the incense altar. 28 Also, put the oil on the altar for burning offerings and all its tools. Put this oil on the bowl and the stand under the bowl. Put oil on all these things to prepare them for service to God. 29 You will give these things for service to God. They will be very holy. Anything that touches these things must also be holy.
30 “Put the oil on Aaron and his sons to make them priests. Give them for service to me. Then they may serve me as priests. 31 Tell the Israelites, ‘This is to be my holy olive oil from now on. It is to be put on people and things to make them ready for service to God. 32 Do not pour it on the bodies of ordinary people. Do not make perfume the same way you make this oil. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. 33 Someone might make perfume like it. Or he might put it on someone who is not a priest. Then that person must be separated from his people.’”
Incense
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of each. 35 You must make incense as a man who makes perfume would do. Add salt to it to keep it pure and holy. 36 Beat some of the incense into a fine powder. Put some of it in front of the Ark of the Covenant in the Meeting Tent. There I will meet with you. You must use this incense powder only for its very special purpose. 37 Do not make incense for yourselves the same way you make this incense. Treat it as holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes incense like this to use as perfume must be separated from his people.”
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His followers asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused this man to be born blind—his own sin or his parents’ sin?”
3 Jesus answered, “It is not this man’s sin or his parents’ sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God’s power could be shown in him. 4 While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the One who sent me. The night is coming. And no one can work at night. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground and made some mud with it. He put the mud on the man’s eyes. 7 Then he told the man, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means Sent.) So the man went to the pool. He washed and came back. And he was able to see.
8 Some people had seen this man begging before. They and the man’s neighbors said, “Look! Is this the same man who always sits and begs?”
9 Some said, “Yes! He is the one.” But others said, “No, he’s not the same man. He only looks like him.”
So the man himself said, “I am the man.”
10 They asked, “What happened? How did you get your sight?”
11 He answered, “The man named Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and came back seeing.”
12 They asked him, “Where is this man?”
The man answered, “I don’t know.”
Pharisees Question the Healing
13 Then the people took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 The day Jesus had made mud and healed his eyes was a Sabbath day. 15 So now the Pharisees asked the man, “How did you get your sight?”
He answered, “He put mud on my eyes. I washed, and now I can see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man does not keep the Sabbath day. He is not from God!”
Others said, “But a man who is a sinner can’t do miracles like these.” So they could not agree with each other.
17 They asked the man again, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man answered, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and could now see again. So they sent for the man’s parents 19 and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind. Then how does he see now?”
20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and we know that he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know how he can see now. We don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough to answer for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. The Jews had already decided that anyone who said that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That is why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
24 So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind. They said, “You should give God the glory by telling the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. But one thing I do know. I was blind, and now I can see.”
26 They asked, “What did he do to you? How did he make you see again?”
27 He answered, “I have already told you that. But you would not listen to me. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his followers, too?”
28 Then they insulted him and said, “You are his follower. We are followers of Moses. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don’t even know where this man comes from!”
30 The man answered, “This is a very strange thing. You don’t know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We all know that God does not listen to sinners. But God listens to anyone who worships and obeys him. 32 Nobody has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered, “You were born full of sin! Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw the man out.
Spiritual Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. So Jesus found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 He asked, “Who is the Son of Man, sir? Tell me, so I can believe in him!”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him. The Son of Man is the one talking with you now.”
38 He said, “Yes, Lord, I believe!” Then the man bowed and worshiped Jesus.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world so that the world could be judged. I came so that the blind[a] could see and so that those who see will become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees were near Jesus. When they heard him say this, they asked, “What? Are you saying that we are blind, too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But now that you say you can see, your guilt remains.”
Dangers of Being Foolish
6 My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else.
Be careful about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2 You might get trapped by what you say.
You might be caught by your own words.
3 My child, you might do this and be under somebody’s control.
Then here is how to get free.
Go to your neighbor and don’t be proud.
Beg him to free you from your promise.
4 Don’t go to sleep.
Don’t even rest your eyes.
5 But free yourself like a deer running from a hunter.
Free yourself like a bird flying away from a trapper.
6 Go watch the ants, you lazy person.
Watch what they do and be wise.
7 Ants have no commander.
They have no leader or ruler.
8 But they store up food in the summer.
They gather their supplies at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you lazy person?
When will you get up from sleeping?
10 You sleep a little; you take a nap.
You fold your hands and rest.
11 So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed.
You will have as little as if you had been held up.
12 Some people are wicked and no good.
They go around telling lies.
13 They wink with their eyes and signal with their feet.
They make signs with their fingers.
14 They make evil plans in their hearts.
They are always causing trouble.
15 So trouble will strike them in an instant.
Suddenly they will be hurt beyond cure.
16 There are six things the Lord hates.
There are seven things he cannot stand:
17 a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18 a mind that thinks up evil plans,
feet that are quick to do evil,
19 a witness who tells lies
and a man who causes trouble among brothers.
Warning About Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s commands.
Don’t forget your mother’s teaching.
21 Remember their words forever.
Let it be as if they were tied around your neck.
22 They will guide you when you walk.
They will guard you while you sleep.
They will speak to you when you are awake.
23 Their commands are like a lamp.
Their teaching is like a light.
And the correction that comes from them
helps you have life.
24 Such teaching will keep you from sinful women
and from the pleasing words of another man’s unfaithful wife.
25 Don’t want her because she is beautiful.
Don’t let her capture you by the way she looks at you.
26 A prostitute may leave you with only a loaf of bread.
And a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest
without burning your clothes.
28 And you cannot walk on hot coals
without burning your feet.
29 The same thing happens if you commit adultery with another man’s wife.
Anyone who does so will be punished.
30 People do not hate a thief
when he steals because he is hungry.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole.
It may cost him everything he owns.
32 A man who takes part in adultery doesn’t have any sense.
He will destroy himself.
33 He will be beaten up and disgraced.
And his shame will never go away.
34 Jealousy makes a husband very angry.
He will have no mercy when he gets even.
35 He will accept no payment for the wrong.
He will take no money, no matter how much it is.
Keep Your Freedom
5 We have freedom now because Christ made us free. So stand strong. Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law. 2 Listen! I am Paul. I tell you that if you go back to the law by being circumcised, then Christ is no good for you. 3 Again, I warn every man: If you allow yourselves to be circumcised, then you must follow all the law. 4 If you try to be made right with God through the law, then your life with Christ is over—you have left God’s grace. 5 But we hope to be made right with God through faith, and we wait for this hope anxiously with the Spirit’s help. 6 When we are in Christ Jesus, it is not important if we are circumcised or not. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.
7 You were running a good race. You were obeying the truth. Who stopped you from following the true way? 8 Whatever way he used did not come from the One who chose you. 9 Be careful! “Just a little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.” 10 But I trust in the Lord that you will not believe those different ideas. Someone is confusing you with such ideas. And he will be punished, whoever he is.
11 My brothers, I do not teach that a man must be circumcised. If I teach circumcision, then why am I still being treated badly? If I still taught circumcision, my preaching about the cross would not be a problem. 12 I wish the people who are bothering you would castrate[a] themselves!
13 My brothers, God called you to be free. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to do the things that please your sinful self. Serve each other with love. 14 The whole law is made complete in this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”[b] 15 If you go on hurting each other and tearing each other apart, be careful! You will completely destroy each other.
The Spirit and Human Nature
16 So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. 17 Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit. The Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other. So you must not do just what you please. 18 But if you let the Spirit lead you, you are not under the law.
19 The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual immorality, impurity and wild living, 20 worshiping false gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, 21 having envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not be in God’s kingdom. 22 But the Spirit gives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. 25 We get our new life from the Spirit. So we should follow the Spirit. 26 We must not be proud. We must not make trouble with each other. And we must not be jealous of each other.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.