M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
11 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2-3 “Tell the people of Israel that the animals which may be used for food include any animal with cloven hooves which chews its cud. 4-7 This means that the following may not be eaten:
The camel (it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves);
The coney, or rock badger (because although it chews the cud, it does not have cloven hooves);
The hare (because although it chews the cud, it does not have cloven hooves);
The swine (because although it has cloven hooves, it does not chew the cud).
8 You may not eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies; they are forbidden foods for you.
9 “As to fish, you may eat whatever has fins and scales, whether taken from rivers or from the sea; 10 but all other water creatures are strictly forbidden to you. 11 You mustn’t eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. 12 I’ll repeat it again—any water creature that does not have fins or scales is forbidden to you.
13-19 “Among the birds, these are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, the metire, the osprey, the falcon (all kinds), the kite, the raven (all kinds), the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull, the hawk (all kinds), the owl, the cormorant, the ibis, the marsh hen, the pelican, the vulture, the stork, the heron (all kinds), the hoopoe, the bat.
20 “No insects may be eaten, 21-22 with the exception of those that jump; locusts of all varieties—ordinary locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers—may be eaten. 23 All insects that fly and walk or crawl are forbidden to you.
24 “Anyone touching their dead bodies shall be defiled until the evening 25 and must wash his clothes immediately. He must also quarantine himself until nightfall, as being ceremonially defiled.
26 “You are also defiled by touching any animal with only semiparted hoofs, or any animal that does not chew the cud. 27 Any animal that walks on paws is forbidden to you as food. Anyone touching the dead body of such an animal shall be defiled until evening. 28 Anyone carrying away the carcass shall wash his clothes and be ceremonially defiled until evening; for it is forbidden to you.
29-30 “These are the forbidden small animals which scurry about your feet or crawl upon the ground: the mole, the rat, the great lizard, the gecko, the mouse, the lizard, the snail, the chameleon. 31 Anyone touching their dead bodies shall be defiled until evening, 32 and anything upon which the carcass falls shall be defiled—any article of wood, or of clothing, a rug, or a sack; anything it touches must be put into water and is defiled until evening. After that it may be used again. 33 If it falls into a pottery bowl, anything in the bowl is defiled, and you shall smash the bowl. 34 If the water used to cleanse the defiled article touches any food, all of it is defiled. Any drink which is in the defiled bowl is also contaminated.
35 “If the dead body of such an animal touches any clay oven, it is defiled and must be smashed. 36 If the body falls into a spring or cistern where there is water, that water is not defiled; yet anyone who pulls out the carcass is defiled. 37 And if the carcass touches grain to be sown in the field, it is not contaminated; 38 but if the seeds are wet and the carcass falls upon it, the seed is defiled.
39 “If an animal which you are permitted to eat dies of disease, anyone touching the carcass shall be defiled until evening. 40 Also, anyone eating its meat or carrying away its carcass shall wash his clothes and be defiled until evening.
41-42 “Animals that crawl shall not be eaten. This includes all reptiles that slither along upon their bellies as well as those that have legs. No crawling thing with many feet may be eaten, for it is defiled. 43 Do not defile yourselves by touching it.
44 “I am the Lord your God. Keep yourselves pure concerning these things, and be holy, for I am holy; therefore do not defile yourselves by touching any of these things that crawl upon the earth. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You must therefore be holy, for I am holy.” 46 These are the laws concerning animals, birds, and whatever swims in the water or crawls upon the ground. 47 These are the distinctions between what is ceremonially clean and may be eaten, and what is ceremonially defiled and may not be eaten, among all animal life upon the earth.
12 The Lord told Moses to give these instructions to the people of Israel:
2 “When a baby boy is born, the mother shall be ceremonially defiled for seven days, and under the same restrictions as during her monthly menstrual periods. 3 On the eighth day, her son must be circumcised. 4 Then, for the next thirty-three days, while she is recovering from her ceremonial impurity, she must not touch anything sacred nor enter the Tabernacle.
5 “When a baby girl is born, the mother’s ceremonial impurity shall last two weeks, during which time she will be under the same restrictions as during menstruation. Then for a further sixty-six days she shall continue her recovery.[a]
6 “When these days of purification are ended (the following instructions are applicable whether her baby is a boy or girl), she must bring a yearling lamb as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.
She must take them to the door of the Tabernacle to the priest; 7 and the priest will offer them before the Lord and make atonement for her; then she will be ceremonially clean again after her bleeding at childbirth.
“These, then, are the procedures after childbirth. 8 But if she is too poor to bring a lamb, then she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One will be for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. The priest will make atonement for her with these, so that she will be ceremonially pure again.”
13 How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How long will you look the other way when I am in need? 2 How long must I be hiding daily anguish in my heart? How long shall my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Answer me, O Lord my God; give me light in my darkness lest I die. 4 Don’t let my enemies say, “We have conquered him!” Don’t let them gloat that I am down.
5 But I will always trust in you and in your mercy and shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord because he has blessed me so richly.
14 That man is a fool who says to himself, “There is no God!” Anyone who talks like that is warped and evil and cannot really be a good person at all.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who are wise, who want to please God. 3 But no, all have strayed away; all are rotten with sin. Not one is good, not one! 4 They eat my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying! Don’t they really know any better?
5 Terror shall grip them, for God is with those who love him. 6 He is the refuge of the poor and humble when evildoers are oppressing them. 7 Oh, that the time of their rescue were already here, that God would come from Zion now to save his people. What gladness when the Lord has rescued Israel!
26 Honor doesn’t go with fools any more than snow with summertime or rain with harvesttime!
2 An undeserved curse has no effect. Its intended victim will be no more harmed by it than by a sparrow or swallow flitting through the sky.
3 Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a rebel with a rod to his back!
4-5 When arguing with a rebel, don’t use foolish arguments as he does, or you will become as foolish as he is! Prick his conceit with silly replies![a]
6 To trust a rebel to convey a message is as foolish as cutting off your feet and drinking poison!
7 In the mouth of a fool a proverb becomes as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Honoring a rebel will backfire like a stone tied to a slingshot!
9 A rebel will misapply an illustration so that its point will no more be felt than a thorn in the hand of a drunkard.
10 The master may get better work from an untrained apprentice than from a skilled rebel!
11 As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
12 There is one thing worse than a fool, and that is a man who is conceited.
13 The lazy man won’t go out and work. “There might be a lion outside!” he says. 14 He sticks to his bed like a door to its hinges! 15 He is too tired even to lift his food from his dish to his mouth! 16 Yet in his own opinion he is smarter than seven wise men.
17 Yanking a dog’s ears is no more foolish than interfering in an argument that isn’t any of your business.
18-19 A man who is caught lying to his neighbor and says, “I was just fooling,” is like a madman throwing around firebrands, arrows, and death!
20 Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and tensions disappear when gossip stops.
21 A quarrelsome man starts fights as easily as a match sets fire to paper.[b]
22 Gossip is a dainty morsel eaten with great relish.
23 Pretty words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a common clay pot.
24-26 A man with hate in his heart may sound pleasant enough, but don’t believe him; for he is cursing you in his heart. Though he pretends to be so kind, his hatred will finally come to light for all to see.
27 The man who sets a trap for others will get caught in it himself. Roll a boulder down on someone, and it will roll back and crush you.
28 Flattery is a form of hatred and wounds cruelly.
5 When is all this going to happen? I really don’t need to say anything about that, dear brothers, 2 for you know perfectly well that no one knows. That day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “All is well; everything is quiet and peaceful”—then, all of a sudden, disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as a woman’s birth pains begin when her child is born. And these people will not be able to get away anywhere—there will be no place to hide.
4 But, dear brothers, you are not in the dark about these things, and you won’t be surprised as by a thief when that day of the Lord comes. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day, and do not belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Watch for his return and stay sober. 7 Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light keep sober, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation.
9 For God has not chosen to pour out his anger upon us but to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ; 10 he died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return. 11 So encourage each other to build each other up, just as you are already doing.
12 Dear brothers, honor the officers of your church who work hard among you and warn you against all that is wrong. 13 Think highly of them and give them your wholehearted love because they are straining to help you. And remember, no quarreling among yourselves.
14 Dear brothers, warn those who are lazy, comfort those who are frightened, take tender care of those who are weak, and be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else. 16 Always be joyful. 17 Always keep on praying. 18 No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
19 Do not smother the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at those who prophesy, 21 but test everything that is said to be sure it is true, and if it is, then accept it. 22 Keep away from every kind of evil. 23 May the God of peace himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong and blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again. 24 God, who called you to become his child, will do all this for you, just as he promised. 25 Dear brothers, pray for us. 26 Shake hands for me with all the brothers there. 27 I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the Christians. 28 And may rich blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, every one.
Sincerely, Paul
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.