M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Sacrifices at the Festival of Trumpets
(Leviticus 23.23-25)
The Lord said:
29 On the first day of the seventh month,[a] you must rest from your work and come together to celebrate at the sound of the trumpets. 2 Bring to the altar one bull, one full-grown ram, and seven rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. And then offer these as sacrifices to please me.[b] 3 Three kilograms of your finest flour mixed with olive oil must be offered with the bull as a grain sacrifice. Two kilograms of flour mixed with oil must be offered with the ram, 4 and one kilogram of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the young rams. 5 You must also offer a goat[c] as a sacrifice for sin. 6 These sacrifices will be made in addition to the regular daily sacrifices[d] and the sacrifices for the first day of the month.[e] The smoke from these sacrifices will please me.
The Sacrifices on the Great Day of Forgiveness
(Leviticus 23.26-32)
The Lord said:
7 (A) The tenth day of the seventh month[f] is the Great Day of Forgiveness.[g] On that day you must rest from all work and come together for worship. Show sorrow for your sins by going without food, 8 and bring to the altar one young bull, one full-grown ram, and seven rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. Then offer these as sacrifices to please me.[h] 9 Three kilograms of your finest flour mixed with olive oil must be offered with the bull as a grain sacrifice. Two kilograms of flour mixed with oil must be offered with the ram, 10 and one kilogram of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the young rams. 11 A goat[i] must also be sacrificed for the sins of the people. You will offer these sacrifices in addition to the sacrifice to ask forgiveness and the regular daily sacrifices.[j]
The Sacrifices during the Festival of Shelters
(Leviticus 23.33-44)
The Lord said:
12 (B) Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month[k] and continuing for seven days, everyone must celebrate the Festival of Shelters in honor of me.
13 On the first day, you must rest from your work and come together for worship. Bring to the altar 13 bulls, 2 full-grown rams, and 14 rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. Then offer these as sacrifices to please me.[l] 14 Three kilograms of your finest flour mixed with olive oil must be offered with each bull as a grain sacrifice. Two kilograms of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the rams, 15 and one kilogram of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the young rams. 16 You must also offer a goat[m] as a sacrifice for sin. These are to be offered in addition to the regular daily sacrifices.[n]
17-34 For the next six days of the festival, you will sacrifice one less bull than the day before, so that on the seventh day, seven bulls will be sacrificed. The other sacrifices and offerings must remain the same for each of these days.
35 On the eighth day, you must once again rest from your work and come together for worship. 36 Bring to the altar one bull, one full-grown ram, and seven rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. Then offer these as sacrifices to please me. 37 You must also offer the proper grain sacrifices and drink offerings of wine with each animal. 38 And offer a goat[o] as the sacrifice to ask forgiveness for the people. These sacrifices are made in addition to the regular daily sacrifices.[p]
39 You must offer all these sacrifices to me at the appointed times of worship, together with any offerings that are voluntarily given or given because of a promise.
40 Moses told the people of Israel everything the Lord had told him about the sacrifices.
BOOK III
(Psalms 73–89)
(A psalm by Asaph.)
God Is Good
1 God is truly good to Israel,[a]
especially to everyone
with a pure heart.
2 But I almost stumbled and fell,
3 because it made me jealous
to see proud and evil people
and to watch them prosper.
4 They never have to suffer,[b]
they stay healthy,
5 and they don't have troubles
like everyone else.
6 Their pride is like a necklace,
and they commit sin more often
than they dress themselves.
7 Their eyes bulge with fat,
and their minds are flooded
with foolish thoughts.
8 They sneer and say cruel things,
and because of their pride,
they make violent threats.
9 They dare to speak against God
and to order others around.
10 God will bring his people back,
and they will drink the water
he so freely gives.[c]
11 Only evil people would say,
“God Most High cannot
know everything!”
12 Yet all goes well for them,
and they live in peace.
13 What good did it do me
to keep my thoughts pure
and refuse to do wrong?
14 I am sick all day,
and I am punished
each morning.
15 If I had said evil things,
I would not have been loyal
to your people.
16 It was hard for me
to understand all this!
17 Then I went to your temple,
and there I understood
what will happen
to my enemies.
18 You will make them stumble,
never to get up again.
19 They will be terrified,
suddenly swept away
and no longer there.
20 They will disappear, Lord,
despised like a bad dream
the morning after.
21 Once I was bitter
and brokenhearted.
22 I was stupid and ignorant,
and I treated you
as a wild animal would.
23 But I never really left you,
and you hold my right hand.
24 Your advice has been my guide,
and later you will welcome me
in glory.[d]
25 In heaven I have only you,
and on this earth
you are all I want.
26 My body and mind may fail,
but you are my strength
and my choice forever.
27 All-Powerful Lord God,
those who stay far from you
will be lost,
and you will destroy those
who are unfaithful.
28 It is good for me
to be near you.
I choose you as my protector,
and I will tell about
your wonderful deeds.
The Fall of Babylonia[a]
21 This is a message about a desert beside the sea:[b]
Enemies from a hostile nation
attack like a whirlwind
from the Southern Desert.
2 What a horrible vision
was shown to me—
a vision of betrayal
and destruction.
Tell Elam and Media[c]
to surround and attack
the Babylonians.
The Lord has sworn to end
the suffering they caused.
3 I'm in terrible pain
like a woman giving birth.
I'm shocked and hurt so much
that I can't hear or see.
4 My head spins; I'm horrified!
Early evening, my favorite time,
has become a nightmare.
5 In Babylon the high officials
were having a feast.
They were eating and drinking,
when someone shouted,
“Officers, take your places!
Grab your shields.”
6 The Lord said to me,
“Send guards
to find out
what's going on.
7 When they see cavalry troops
and columns of soldiers
on donkeys and camels,
tell them to be ready!”
8 Then a guard[d] said,
“I have stood day and night
on this watchtower, Lord.
9 (A) Now I see column after column
of cavalry troops.”
At once someone shouted,
“Babylon has fallen!
Every idol in the city
lies broken on the ground.”
10 Then I said, “My people,
you have suffered terribly,
but I have a message for you
from the Lord All-Powerful,
the God of Israel.”
How Much Longer?
11 This is a message about Dumah:
From the country of Seir,[e]
someone shouts to me,
“Guard, how much longer
before daylight?”
12 From my guard post, I answered,
“Morning will soon be here,
but night will return.
If you want to know more,
come back later.”
13 This is a message for Arabs who live in the barren desert in the region of Dedan:[f]
You must order your caravans
14 to bring water for those
who are thirsty.
You people of Tema[g]
must bring food
for the hungry refugees.
15 They are worn out and weary
from being chased by enemies
with swords and arrows.
16 The Lord said to me:
A year from now the glory of the people of Kedar[h] will all come to an end, just as a worker's contract ends after a year. 17 Only a few of their warriors will be left with bows and arrows. This is a promise that I, the Lord God of Israel, have made.
False Prophets and Teachers
2 Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves. 2 Many people will follow their evil ways and cause others to tell lies about the true way. 3 They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. But long ago God decided to punish them, and God doesn't sleep.
4 God did not have pity on the angels that sinned. He had them tied up and thrown into the dark pits of hell until the time of judgment. 5 (A) And during Noah's time, God did not have pity on the ungodly people of the world. He destroyed them with a flood, though he did save eight people, including Noah, who preached the truth.
6 (B) God punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah[a] by burning them to ashes, and this is a warning to anyone else who wants to sin.
7-8 (C) Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him. 9 This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.
10 The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don't think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven. 11 Although angels are more powerful than these evil beings,[b] even the angels don't dare to accuse them to the Lord.
12 These people are no better than senseless animals that live by their feelings and are born to be caught and killed. They speak evil of things they don't know anything about. But their own corrupt deeds will destroy them. 13 They have done evil, and they will be rewarded with evil.
They think it is fun to have wild parties during the day. They are immoral, and the meals they eat with you are spoiled by the shameful and selfish way they carry on.[c] 14 All they think about is having sex with someone else's husband or wife. There is no end to their wicked deeds. They trick people who are easily fooled, and their minds are filled with greedy thoughts. But they are headed for trouble!
15 (D) They have left the true road and have gone down the wrong path by following the example of the prophet Balaam. He was the son of Beor and loved what he got from being a crook. 16 But a donkey corrected him for this evil deed. It spoke to him with a human voice and made him stop his foolishness.
17 These people are like dried up water holes and clouds blown by a windstorm. The darkest part of hell is waiting for them. 18 They brag out loud about their stupid nonsense. And by being vulgar and crude, they trap people who have barely escaped from living the wrong kind of life. 19 They promise freedom to everyone. But they are merely slaves of filthy living, because people are slaves of whatever controls them.
20 When they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they escaped from the filthy things of this world. But they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things, and now they are in worse shape than they were at first. 21 They would have been better off if they had never known about the right way. Even after they knew what was right, they turned their backs on the holy commandments they were given. 22 (E) What happened to them is just like the true saying,
“A dog will come back
to lick up its own vomit.
A pig that has been washed
will roll in the mud.”
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