M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Purification after Having Skin Diseases
14 The Lord gave Moses 2 (A)the following regulations about the ritual purification of those of you cured of a dreaded skin disease. On the day you are to be pronounced clean, you shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall take you outside the camp and examine you. If the disease is healed, 4 the priest shall order that two ritually clean birds be brought, along with a piece of cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop. 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water. 6 He shall take the other bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the red cord, and the hyssop, in the blood of the bird that was killed. 7 He shall sprinkle the blood seven times on the one of you who is to be purified from your skin disease, and then he shall pronounce you clean. He shall let the live bird fly away over the open fields. 8 You shall wash your clothes, shave off all your hair, and take a bath; you will then be ritually clean. You may enter the camp, but you must live outside your tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day you shall again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body; you shall wash your clothes and take a bath, and then you will be ritually clean.
10 On the eighth day you shall bring two male lambs and one female lamb a year old that are without any defects, five pounds of flour mixed with olive oil, and half a pint of olive oil. 11 The priest shall take you and these offerings to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 12 Then the priest shall take one of the male lambs and together with the half pint of oil he shall offer it as a repayment offering. He shall present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. 13 He shall kill the lamb in the holy place where the animals for the sin offerings and the burnt offerings are killed. He must do this because the repayment offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest and is very holy. 14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the lamb and put it on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one of you to be declared ritually clean. 15 The priest shall take some of the olive oil and pour it in the palm of his own left hand, 16 dip a finger of his right hand in it, and sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. 17 He shall take some of the oil that is in the palm of his hand and some of the blood of the lamb and put them on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one of you to be declared ritually clean. 18 He shall put the rest of the oil that is in the palm of his hand on your head. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification.
19 Then the priest shall offer the sin offering and perform the ritual of purification. After that, he shall kill the animal for the burnt offering 20 and offer it with the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification, and you will be ritually clean.
21 If you are poor and cannot afford any more, you shall bring for your purification only one male lamb as your repayment offering, a special gift to the Lord for the priest. You shall bring only two pounds of flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering and half a pint of olive oil. 22 You shall also bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the sin offering and one for the burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day of your purification you shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent. 24 The priest shall take the lamb and the olive oil and present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. 25 He shall kill the lamb and take some of the blood and put it on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. 26 The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand 27 and with a finger of his right hand sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. 28 He shall put some of the oil on the same places he put the blood: on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. 29 The rest of the oil that is in his palm he shall put on your head and in this way perform the ritual of purification. 30 Then he shall offer one of the doves or pigeons 31 as the sin offering and the other as the burnt offering with the grain offering. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification. 32 This is the law for those who have a dreaded skin disease but who cannot afford the normal offerings required for his purification.
Mildew in Houses
33 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron 34-35 the following regulations about houses affected by spreading mildew. (These were to apply after the people of Israel entered the land of Canaan, which the Lord was going to give them as their possession.) If any of you find that the Lord has sent mildew on your house, then you must go and tell the priest about it. 36 The priest shall order everything to be moved out of the house before he goes to examine the mildew; otherwise everything in the house will be declared unclean. Then he shall go to the house 37 and examine the mildew. If there are greenish or reddish spots that appear to be eating into the wall, 38 he shall leave the house and lock it up for seven days. 39 On the seventh day he shall return and examine it again. If the mildew has spread, 40 he shall order that the stones on which the mildew is found be removed and thrown into some unclean place outside the city. 41 After that he must have all the interior walls scraped and the plaster dumped in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then other stones are to be used to replace the stones that were removed, and new plaster will be used to cover the walls.
43 If the mildew breaks out again in the house after the stones have been removed and the house has been scraped and plastered, 44 the priest shall go and look. If it has spread, the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down, and its stones, its wood, and all its plaster must be carried out of the city to an unclean place. 46 Any who enter the house while it is locked up will be unclean until evening. 47 Any who lie down or eat in the house must wash their clothes.
48 If, when the priest comes to look, the mildew has not reappeared after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house ritually clean, because the mildew has been completely removed. 49 To purify the house, he shall take two birds, some cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water. 51 Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the red cord, and the live bird and shall dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle the house seven times. 52 In this way he shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the red cord. 53 Then he shall let the live bird fly away outside the city over the open fields. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification for the house, and it will be ritually clean.
54 These are the laws about dreaded skin diseases; 55-56 sores, boils, or inflammations; and about mildew in clothes or houses. 57 These laws determine when something is unclean and when it is clean.
The Prayer of an Innocent Person[a]
17 Listen, O Lord, to my plea for justice;
pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to my honest prayer.
2 You will judge in my favor,
because you know what is right.
3 You know my heart.
You have come to me at night;
you have examined me completely
and found no evil desire in me.
I speak no evil,
4 as others do;
I have obeyed your command
and have not followed paths of violence.
5 I have always walked in your way
and have never strayed from it.
6 I pray to you, O God, because you answer me;
so turn to me and listen to my words.
7 Reveal your wonderful love and save me;
at your side I am safe from my enemies.
8 Protect me as you would your very eyes;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the attacks of the wicked.
Deadly enemies surround me;
10 they have no pity and speak proudly.
11 They are around me now, wherever I turn,
watching for a chance to pull me down.
12 They are like lions, waiting for me,
wanting to tear me to pieces.
13 Come, Lord! Oppose my enemies and defeat them!
Save me from the wicked by your sword;
14 save me from those who in this life have all they want.
Punish them with the sufferings you have stored up for them;
may there be enough for their children
and some left over for their children's children!
15 But I will see you, because I have done no wrong;
and when I awake, your presence will fill me with joy.
28 The wicked run when no one is chasing them, but an honest person is as brave as a lion.
2 When a nation sins, it will have one ruler after another. But a nation will be strong and endure when it has intelligent, sensible leaders.
3 Someone in authority who oppresses poor people is like a driving rain that destroys the crops.
4 If you have no regard for the law, you are on the side of the wicked; but if you obey it, you are against them.
5 Evil people do not know what justice is, but those who worship the Lord understand it well.
6 Better to be poor and honest than rich and dishonest.
7 Young people who obey the law are intelligent. Those who make friends with good-for-nothings are a disgrace to their parents.
8 If you get rich by charging interest and taking advantage of people, your wealth will go to someone who is kind to the poor.
9 If you do not obey the law, God will find your prayers too hateful to hear.
10 If you trick an honest person into doing evil, you will fall into your own trap.
The innocent will be well rewarded.
11 Rich people always think they are wise, but a poor person who has insight into character knows better.
12 When good people come to power, everybody celebrates, but when bad people rule, people stay in hiding.
13 You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.
14 Always obey the Lord and you will be happy. If you are stubborn, you will be ruined.
15 Poor people are helpless against a wicked ruler; he is as dangerous as a growling lion or a prowling bear.
16 A ruler without good sense will be a cruel tyrant. One who hates dishonesty will rule a long time.
17 Someone guilty of murder is digging his own grave as fast as he can. Don't try to stop him.
18 Be honest and you will be safe. If you are dishonest, you will suddenly fall.
19 A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat. People who waste time will always be poor.
20 Honest people will lead a full, happy life. But if you are in a hurry to get rich, you are going to be punished.
21 Prejudice is wrong. But some judges will do wrong to get even the smallest bribe.
22 Selfish people are in such a hurry to get rich that they do not know when poverty is about to strike.
23 Correct someone, and afterward he will appreciate it more than flattery.
24 Anyone who thinks it isn't wrong to steal from his parents is no better than a common thief.
25 Selfishness only causes trouble. You are much better off to trust the Lord.
26 It is foolish to follow your own opinions. Be safe, and follow the teachings of wiser people.
27 Give to the poor and you will never be in need. If you close your eyes to the poor, many people will curse you.
28 People stay in hiding when the wicked come to power. But when they fall from power, the righteous will rule again.
The Wicked One
2 (A)Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends, 2 not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. 4 (B)He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God.
5 Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. 6 Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear. 7 The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way. 8 (C)Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence. 9 (D)The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10 and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved. 11 And so God sends the power of error to work in them so that they believe what is false. 12 The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned.
You Are Chosen for Salvation
13 We must thank God at all times for you, friends, you whom the Lord loves. For God chose you as the first[a] to be saved by the Spirit's power to make you his holy people and by your faith in the truth. 14 God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, our friends, stand firm and hold on to those truths which we taught you, both in our preaching and in our letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope, 17 encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.
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.