M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Sin of Nadab and Abihu
10 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, ‘All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.’”[a] But Aaron remained silent.
4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, “Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp.” 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord.” So they did as Moses said.
Rules for Priests
8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses.”
12 (A)Moses said to Aaron and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the food offered to the Lord, make unleavened bread with it and eat it beside the altar, because this offering is very holy. 13 Eat it in a holy place; it is the part that belongs to you and your sons from the food offered to the Lord. That is what the Lord commanded me. 14 (B)But you and your families may eat the breast and the hind leg that are presented as the special gift and the special contribution to the Lord for the priests. You may eat them in any ritually clean place. These offerings have been given to you and your children as the part that belongs to you from the fellowship offerings of the people of Israel. 15 They shall bring the hind leg and the breast at the time the fat is presented as a food offering to the Lord. These parts belong to you and your children forever, just as the Lord commanded.”
16 Moses asked about the goat for the sin offering and learned that it had already been burned. This made him angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, and he demanded, 17 (C)“Why didn't you eat the sin offering in a sacred place? It is very holy, and the Lord has given it to you in order to take away the sin of the community. 18 Since its blood was not brought into the sacred Tent, you should have eaten the sacrifice there, as I commanded.”
19 Aaron answered, “If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved? The people presented their sin offering to the Lord today, and they brought their burnt offering, but still these terrible things have happened to me.” 20 When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
Confidence in the Lord[a]
11 I trust in the Lord for safety.
How foolish of you to say to me,
“Fly away like a bird to the mountains,[b]
2 because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows
to shoot from the shadows at good people.
3 There is nothing a good person can do
when everything falls apart.”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
he has his throne in heaven.
He watches people everywhere
and knows what they are doing.
5 He examines the good and the wicked alike;
the lawless he hates with all his heart.
6 He sends down flaming coals[c] and burning sulfur on the wicked;
he punishes them with scorching winds.
7 The Lord is righteous and loves good deeds;
those who do them will live in his presence.
A Prayer for Help[d]
12 Help us, Lord!
There is not a good person left;
honest people can no longer be found.
2 All of them lie to one another;
they deceive each other with flattery.
3 Silence those flattering tongues, O Lord!
Close those boastful mouths that say,
4 “With our words we get what we want.
We will say what we wish,
and no one can stop us.”
5 “But now I will come,” says the Lord,
“because the needy are oppressed
and the persecuted groan in pain.
I will give them the security they long for.”
6 The promises of the Lord can be trusted;
they are as genuine as silver
refined seven times in the furnace.
7-8 The wicked are everywhere,
and everyone praises what is evil.
Keep us always safe, O Lord,
and preserve us from such people.
More of Solomon's Proverbs
25 Here are more of Solomon's proverbs, copied by scribes at the court of King Hezekiah of Judah.
2 We honor God for what he conceals; we honor kings for what they explain.
3 You never know what a king is thinking; his thoughts are beyond us, like the heights of the sky or the depths of the ocean.
4 Take the impurities out of silver and the artist can produce a thing of beauty. 5 Keep evil advisers away from the king and his government will be known for its justice.
6 (A)When you stand before the king, don't try to impress him and pretend to be important. 7 It is better to be asked to take a higher position than to be told to give your place to someone more important.
8 Don't be too quick to go to court about something you have seen. If another witness later proves you wrong, what will you do then?
9 If you and your neighbor have a difference of opinion, settle it between yourselves and do not reveal any secrets. 10 Otherwise everyone will learn that you can't keep a secret, and you will never live down the shame.
11 An idea well-expressed is like a design of gold, set in silver.
12 A warning given by an experienced person to someone willing to listen is more valuable than gold rings or jewelry made of the finest gold.
13 A reliable messenger is refreshing to the one who sends him, like cold water in the heat of harvest time.
14 People who promise things that they never give are like clouds and wind that bring no rain.
15 Patient persuasion can break down the strongest resistance and can even convince rulers.
16 Never eat more honey than you need; too much may make you vomit. 17 Don't visit your neighbors too often; they may get tired of you and come to hate you.
18 A false accusation is as deadly as a sword, a club, or a sharp arrow.
19 Depending on an unreliable person in a crisis is like trying to chew with a loose tooth or walk with a crippled foot.
20 Singing to a person who is depressed is like taking off a person's clothes on a cold day or like rubbing salt in a wound.
21 (B)If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink. 22 You will make them burn with shame, and the Lord will reward you.
23 Gossip brings anger just as surely as the north wind brings rain.
24 Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife.
25 Finally hearing good news from a distant land is like a drink of cold water when you are dry and thirsty.
26 A good person who gives in to someone who is evil reminds you of a polluted spring or a poisoned well.
27 Too much honey is bad for you, and so is trying to win too much praise.[a]
28 If you cannot control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, open to attack.
A Life That Pleases God
4 Finally, our friends, you learned from us how you should live in order to please God. This is, of course, the way you have been living. And now we beg and urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to do even more. 2 For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 God wants you to be holy and completely free from sexual immorality. 4 Each of you should know how to live with your wife[a] in a holy and honorable way, 5 not with a lustful desire, like the heathen who do not know God. 6 In this matter, then, none of you should do wrong to other Christians or take advantage of them. We have told you this before, and we strongly warned you that the Lord will punish those who do that. 7 God did not call us to live in immorality, but in holiness. 8 So then, whoever rejects this teaching is not rejecting a human being, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9 There is no need to write you about love for each other. You yourselves have been taught by God how you should love one another. 10 And you have, in fact, behaved like this toward all the believers in all of Macedonia. So we beg you, our friends, to do even more. 11 Make it your aim to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to earn your own living, just as we told you before. 12 In this way you will win the respect of those who are not believers, and you will not have to depend on anyone for what you need.
The Lord's Coming
13 Our friends, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him.
15 (A)What we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. 16 (B)There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; 17 then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 So then, encourage one another with these words.
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.