M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rules about gifts to the Lord
27 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to Israel's people. Tell them this. A person might give another person to the Lord for a special promise. 3 They can make that person free. But they must give the right amount of money to God. For a man between 20 years and 60 years old, they must give 50 pieces of silver. 4 For a woman, they must give 30 pieces of silver. 5 For a male between five years and 20 years old, they must give to God 20 pieces of silver. For a female, they must give ten pieces of silver. 6 For a boy between one month and five years old, they must give five pieces of silver. For a girl of the same age, God must have three pieces of silver. 7 If a man is older than 60 years, they must give 15 pieces of silver. For a woman, they must give ten pieces of silver. 8 A person might say this special promise to God. But he might be too poor to pay the money. He must bring the person to the priest. The priest will tell the person how much money to pay. The priest will know how much money the man can give.
9 If the promise is to give an animal to God the animal becomes holy to the Lord. 10 The person must not change a good animal for a bad animal. He must not change a bad animal for a good animal. If the person does change one animal for another, both the animals become holy. 11 The animal might be an animal that you must not eat. And you can not give it to the Lord. If it is, the person must bring it to the priest. 12 The priest will decide if the animal is good or bad. 13 The person might want to buy the animal back. He must pay the price of the animal and one fifth more.
14 A person might give his house to the Lord. The priest will decide if the house is good or bad. The priest will decide the price of the house. 15 The person might want to buy the house back. He must pay the price of the house and one fifth more. Then it will again belong to him.
16 A person might give part of his land to the Lord. The person will decide the price by how much seed the land needs. The price will be 50 pieces of silver for a homer (220 litres) of seed. 17 If a person gives his land in a Jubilee year, the price is the same. 18 A person might give his land after the Jubilee year. The priest will count the number of years before the next Jubilee. The price will be less. 19 A person might want to buy the land back. He must pay the price of the land and one fifth more. 20 He may not buy it back before the year of Jubilee. Then the field becomes holy. But the man may have sold the land to another person. If he has, he cannot get it back. 21 In the Jubilee year the land will become holy. Then it will belong to the priests.
22 A person might buy some land from another family. He might give that land to the Lord. 23 The priest will count how many years there are until the Jubilee year. The person must pay the money on that day. The money is holy to the Lord. 24 In the Jubilee year, the land returns to the family from whom he bought it. 25 The priest must decide the price of the land. He must use the correct measures.
26 The first baby that an animal has is holy. It belongs to the Lord. A person cannot give it as a special gift to the Lord. 27 The animal might be an unclean animal (an animal that they must not eat). The person can pay the price of the animal and one fifth more to get it back. If the person does not buy it back, the priest will sell it.
28 A man might give to the Lord something that the man has. Everything that a man gives like that is holy. It might be a person, an animal or land. The priest must not sell it. A man cannot take it back. Everything that someone gives to the Lord is most holy.
29 God might decide that a person must die. If he does, nobody can buy the person back. The person must die.
30 One tenth of everything that comes from the land is holy to the Lord. It may be grain or fruit. It belongs to the Lord. 31 If a person buys back any of his gift, he must pay the price and one fifth more. 32 Out of every ten animals, one animal is holy. It belongs to the Lord. 33 A person must not change a good animal for a bad animal. A person must not change a bad animal for a good animal. If he does that, both animals are holy. They belong to God. A person cannot buy them back.’
34 These are the rules that the Lord gave to Moses on Sinai mountain. They are the rules for Israel's people.
David wrote this song when he made the Philistine king think that he was crazy. He wanted the king to send him away.[a]
God is great![b]
34 I will always praise the Lord.
All the time I will sing to praise him.
2 I will boast that the Lord is great!
I want weak people to hear that.
I want them to be happy!
3 Join with me to tell people that the Lord is great!
Together we will make his name famous.
4 I asked the Lord to help me,
and he answered me.
He saved me from everything that made me afraid.
5 People who trust the Lord to help them
will be very happy.
Their faces will be bright,
and they will not be ashamed.
6 I was weak and helpless,
so I called out to the Lord.
The Lord heard me.
He saved me from all my troubles.
7 The Lord's angel is very near
to people who respect and obey the Lord.
He keeps them safe from danger.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good!
God blesses people who turn to him
to keep them safe.
9 All you people who belong to the Lord,
continue to obey him.
People who respect the Lord
will have the things that they need.
10 Even young lions may not have food,
so that they become hungry.
But people who trust the Lord for help
will receive every good thing that they need.
11 Children, come and listen to me!
I will teach you how to respect the Lord.
12 Do you want to live a good life?
Do you want your life to be long and happy?
13 If so, do not speak any evil words.
Do not tell lies to deceive people.
14 Do good things instead of evil things.
Try to bring peace into people's lives.
15 The Lord watches over righteous people.
He hears them when they call to him for help.
16 But the Lord turns against people who do evil things.
He causes everybody to forget that they ever lived.
17 The Lord hears his righteous people
when they call for help.
He saves them from all their troubles.
18 When people are upset,
the Lord is near to them.
He saves those who feel very weak and upset.
19 Righteous people may often have troubles,
but the Lord saves them from every danger.
20 The Lord keeps them safe.
Not even one of their bones is broken!
21 Evil things will return to kill wicked people.
Whoever hates God's own people
will receive punishment.
22 The Lord saves the lives of his servants.
Everyone who trusts the Lord to keep them safe
will not receive punishment as a guilty person.
10 A few dead flies in a bottle of perfume cause it to have a bad smell.
In the same way, one foolish thing can destroy a lot of wisdom.
2 If you are wise,
you know the right way to go.
But a fool is stupid and he goes the wrong way.
3 Even when fools walk along the road,
they show that they are stupid.
Everyone can see that they are not wise.
4 If your master becomes angry with you,
do not leave your place.
Be patient and answer him quietly.
Then he will forgive your mistakes.
5 I have seen another terrible thing that happens on the earth.
It happens when a ruler does a silly thing.
6 A ruler may give fools too much authority.
At the same time, rich people have no authority.
7 Slaves ride on horses, as important people do.
At the same time, princes have to walk, as slaves do.
8 If you dig a deep hole, you might fall into it.
If you knock down a wall, a snake might bite you.
9 If you cut stones out of the ground, a stone might hurt you.
If you cut wood into pieces, a piece of it might hurt you.
10 If your axe is not sharp,
you will need to be very strong to use it.
If you are wise, you will make the axe's edge sharp again.
That is how wisdom helps you to do things well.
11 Someone may have power over dangerous snakes.
But that will not help him if the snake bites him first.
12 People respect a wise person,
because of the things that he says.
But the words of a fool will destroy him.
13 When a fool starts to speak,
he says silly things.
When he finishes,
he is saying crazy things that are wicked.
14 But he never stops talking.
Nobody knows what will happen in the future.
Nobody can tell us what will happen after we die.
15 When a fool does any work,
he quickly becomes tired.
He is so tired that he forgets the way to town.
16 A country is in terrible trouble
if its ruler is young and foolish.
If its leaders go to parties all day,
a country is in trouble.
17 But if a country's ruler belongs to a good family,
that country will be a happy place.
Its leaders only enjoy parties at the proper time.
They control themselves and they do not become drunk.
18 If a man is too lazy to work on his house,
its roof will fall down.
Rain will make his rooms wet.
19 Good food and wine help us to laugh and to be happy.
But you need to have money to buy everything.
20 Do not say bad things about the king.
Do not even think about it!
Even when you are in your bedroom,
do not say bad things about rich people.
A little bird might hear you.
It might tell people what you have said.
Titus must teach all the believers properly
2 But as for you, Titus, you must teach people to do what is right. Teach them only the things that belong to God's true message. 2 Tell the older men to control themselves properly. They must think carefully about how they live, so that people respect them. They must continue to believe in Christ. They must continue to love other people. They must continue to be patient and strong.
3 Also, tell the older women to live in a good way. Their lives must show that they respect God. They must not say bad things about other people. They must not be drunks. They must teach what is good. 4 In this way, they can teach the young women how they should live. As a result, the young women will love their husbands and their children. 5 The young women will control themselves well and be pure in how they live. They will be good housewives who are kind to other people.[a] They will respect their husbands. If they live in a good way like that, nobody will be able to say bad things about God's message.
6 As for the young men, tell them also to control themselves wisely in how they live. 7 You yourself must always do good things too. In that way, you will show the young men how they should live. When you teach the believers, be honest and serious. 8 Teach a message that is correct, so that nobody can say anything against it. Then our enemies will be ashamed, because they cannot say anything bad about us.
9 As for slaves, tell them to obey their masters always. They must not argue with their masters. Instead, they should work well to please their masters. 10 Slaves must not take things that belong to their masters. Their masters must be able to trust them completely. Then people will respect the message that we teach about God, our Saviour.
God gives believers a new life
11 God has shown us clearly how very kind he is. He has come to save all people. 12 Because God is kind, he teaches us to stop living in a bad way. We no longer do the bad things that do not make God happy. We turn away from the bad things that belong to this world. God teaches us to control ourselves wisely while we live in this world. He teaches us to do what is right. He teaches us to please him in the way that we live.
13 Remember this: We are waiting for Jesus Christ to return to this world. When he comes, that will make us very happy. Everyone will see how great Jesus Christ is. He is our great God. He is the one who saves us from our sins. 14 He gave himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. He did that to make us free from every kind of bad thing. As a result, we can be completely good and clean inside ourselves. We can become his own special people, who want to do good things.
15 You must teach these things to the believers. Help them to live in a good way. Warn them when they do wrong things. Use all the authority that you have as a leader in the church. Make sure that everyone respects you properly.
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