M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Aaron Offers Sacrifices
9 The day after the ordination rites were completed, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. 2 He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull and a ram without any defects and offer them to the Lord, the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering. 3 Then tell the people of Israel to take a male goat for a sin offering, a one-year-old calf, and a one-year-old lamb without any defects for a burnt offering, 4 and a bull and a ram for a fellowship offering. They are to sacrifice them to the Lord with the grain offering mixed with oil. They must do this because the Lord will appear to them today.”
5 They brought to the front of the Tent everything that Moses had commanded, and the whole community assembled there to worship the Lord. 6 Moses said, “The Lord has commanded you to do all this, so that the dazzling light of his presence can appear to you.” 7 (A)Then he said to Aaron, “Go to the altar and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering to take away your sins and the sins of the people. Present this offering to take away the sins of the people, just as the Lord commanded.”
8 Aaron went to the altar and killed the young bull which was for his own sin offering. 9 His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it, put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and poured out the rest of it at the base of the altar. 10 Then he burned on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the best part of the liver, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 11 But he burned the meat and the skin outside the camp.
12 He killed the animal which was for his own burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. 13 They handed him the head and the other pieces of the animal, and he burned them on the altar. 14 Then he washed the internal organs and the hind legs and burned them on the altar on top of the rest of the burnt offering.
15 After that, he presented the people's offerings. He took the goat that was to be offered for the people's sins, killed it, and offered it, as he had done with his own sin offering. 16 He also brought the animal for the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. 17 He presented the grain offering and took a handful of flour and burned it on the altar. (This was in addition to the daily burnt offering.) 18 (B)He killed the bull and the ram as a fellowship offering for the people. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. 19 Aaron put the fat parts of the bull and the ram 20 on top of the breasts of the animals and carried it all to the altar. He burned the fat on the altar 21 and presented the breasts and the right hind legs as the special gift to the Lord for the priests, as Moses had commanded.
22 (C)When Aaron had finished all the sacrifices, he raised his hands over the people and blessed them, and then stepped down. 23 Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to all the people. 24 Suddenly the Lord sent a fire, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they all shouted and bowed down with their faces to the ground.
A Prayer for Justice
10 Why are you so far away, O Lord?
Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?
2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor;
catch them in the traps they have made.
3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires;
the greedy curse and reject the Lord.
4 The wicked do not care about the Lord;
in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.
5 The wicked succeed in everything.
They cannot understand God's judgments;
they sneer at their enemies.
6 They say to themselves, “We will never fail;
we will never be in trouble.”
7 (A)Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats;
they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.
8 They hide themselves in the villages,
waiting to murder innocent people.
They spy on their helpless victims;
9 they wait in their hiding place like lions.
They lie in wait for the poor;
they catch them in their traps and drag them away.
10 The helpless victims lie crushed;
brute strength has defeated them.
11 The wicked say to themselves, “God doesn't care!
He has closed his eyes and will never see me!”
12 O Lord, punish those wicked people!
Remember those who are suffering!
13 How can the wicked despise God
and say to themselves, “He will not punish me”?
14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering
and are always ready to help.
The helpless commit themselves to you;
you have always helped the needy.
15 Break the power of wicked and evil people;
punish them for the wrong they have done
until they do it no more.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever.
Those who worship other gods
will vanish from his land.
17 You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly;
you will give them courage.
18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;
you will judge in their favor,
so that mortal men may cause terror no more.
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24 Don't be envious of evil people, and don't try to make friends with them. 2 Causing trouble is all they ever think about; every time they open their mouth someone is going to be hurt.
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3 Homes are built on the foundation of wisdom and understanding.[a] 4 Where there is knowledge, the rooms are furnished with valuable, beautiful things.
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5 Being wise is better than being strong;[b] yes, knowledge is more important than strength. 6 After all, you must make careful plans before you fight a battle, and the more good advice you get, the more likely you are to win.
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7 Wise sayings are too deep for stupid people to understand. They have nothing to say when important matters are being discussed.
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8 If you are always planning evil, you will earn a reputation as a troublemaker. 9 Any scheme a fool thinks up is sinful. People hate a person who has nothing but scorn for others.
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10 If you are weak in a crisis, you are weak indeed.
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11 Don't hesitate to rescue someone who is about to be executed unjustly. 12 You may say that it is none of your business, but God knows and judges your motives. He keeps watch on you; he knows. And he will reward you according to what you do.
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13 My child, eat honey; it is good. And just as honey from the comb is sweet on your tongue, 14 you may be sure that wisdom is good for the soul. Get wisdom and you have a bright future.
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15 Don't be like the wicked who scheme to rob honest people or to take away their homes. 16 No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again; but disaster destroys the wicked.
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17 Don't be glad when your enemies meet disaster, and don't rejoice when they stumble. 18 The Lord will know if you are gloating, and he will not like it; and then maybe he won't punish them.
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19 Don't let evil people worry you; don't be envious of them. 20 A wicked person has no future—nothing to look forward to.
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21 Have reverence for the Lord, my child, and honor the king. Have nothing to do with people who rebel against them; 22 such people could be ruined in a moment. Do you realize the disaster that God or the king can cause?
More Wise Sayings
23 The wise have also said these things:
It is wrong for judges to be prejudiced. 24 If they pronounce a guilty person innocent, they will be cursed and hated by everyone. 25 Judges who punish the guilty, however, will be prosperous and enjoy a good reputation.
26 An honest answer is a sign of true friendship.
27 Don't build your house and establish a home until your fields are ready, and you are sure that you can earn a living.
28 Don't give evidence against others without good reason, or say misleading things about them. 29 Don't say, “I'll do to them just what they did to me! I'll get even with them!”
30 I walked through the fields and vineyards of a lazy, stupid person. 31 They were full of thorn bushes and overgrown with weeds. The stone wall around them had fallen down. 32 I looked at this, thought about it, and learned a lesson from it: 33 (A)Go ahead and take your nap; go ahead and sleep. Fold your hands and rest awhile, 34 but while you are asleep, poverty will attack you like an armed robber.
3 (A)Finally, we could not bear it any longer. So we decided to stay on alone in Athens 2 while we sent Timothy, our brother who works with us for God in preaching the Good News about Christ. We sent him to strengthen you and help your faith, 3 so that none of you should turn back because of these persecutions. You yourselves know that such persecutions are part of God's will for us. 4 For while we were still with you, we told you ahead of time that we were going to be persecuted; and as you well know, that is exactly what happened. 5 That is why I had to send Timothy. I could not bear it any longer, so I sent him to find out about your faith. Surely it could not be that the Devil had tempted you and all our work had been for nothing!
6 (B)Now Timothy has come back, and he has brought us the welcome news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always think well of us and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you. 7 So, in all our trouble and suffering we have been encouraged about you, friends. It was your faith that encouraged us, 8 because now we really live if you stand firm in your life in union with the Lord. 9 Now we can give thanks to our God for you. We thank him for the joy we have in his presence because of you. 10 Day and night we ask him with all our heart to let us see you personally and supply what is needed in your faith.
11 May our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus prepare the way for us to come to you! 12 May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow more and more and become as great as our love for you. 13 In this way he will strengthen you, and you will be perfect and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all who belong to him.[a]
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.