M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Offerings of the Leaders
7 On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the Lord's presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. 2 Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, 3 brought their offerings to the Lord: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, 4 the Lord said to Moses, 5 “Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do.” 6 So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, 8 and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. 9 But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.
10 The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar, 11 the Lord said to Moses, “Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar.”
12-83 They presented their offerings in the following order:
| Day | Tribe | Leader |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Judah | Nahshon son of Amminadab |
| 2nd | Issachar | Nethanel son of Zuar |
| 3rd | Zebulun | Eliab son of Helon |
| 4th | Reuben | Elizur son of Shedeur |
| 5th | Simeon | Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai |
| 6th | Gad | Eliasaph son of Deuel |
| 7th | Ephraim | Elishama son of Ammihud |
| 8th | Manasseh | Gamaliel son of Pedahzur |
| 9th | Benjamin | Abidan son of Gideoni |
| 10th | Dan | Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai |
| 11th | Asher | Pagiel son of Ochran |
| 12th | Naphtali | Ahira son of Enan |
The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 50 ounces and one silver basin weighing 30 ounces, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 4 ounces, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offering.
84-88 The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:
- twelve silver bowls and twelve silver basins weighing a total of 60 pounds
- twelve gold dishes weighing a total of 48 ounces, filled with incense
- twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old lambs, plus the grain offerings that go with them, for the burnt offerings
- twelve goats for the sin offerings
- twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offerings
89 When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the Lord, he heard the Lord speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.[a]
BOOK TWO(A)
The Prayer of Someone in Exile[a]
42 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for you, the living God.
When can I go and worship in your presence?
3 Day and night I cry,
and tears are my only food;
all the time my enemies ask me,
“Where is your God?”
4 My heart breaks when I remember the past,
when I went with the crowds to the house of God
and led them as they walked along,
a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.
5 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so troubled?
I will put my hope in God,
and once again I will praise him,
my savior and my God.
6-7 Here in exile my heart is breaking,
and so I turn my thoughts to him.
He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul;
chaos roars at me like a flood,
like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan
from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.
8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day,
so that I may have a song at night,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 To God, my defender, I say,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go on suffering
from the cruelty of my enemies?”
10 I am crushed by their insults,
as they keep on asking me,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so troubled?
I will put my hope in God,
and once again I will praise him,
my savior and my God.
The Prayer of Someone in Exile (B)
43 O God, declare me innocent,
and defend my cause against the ungodly;
deliver me from lying and evil people!
2 You are my protector;
why have you abandoned me?
Why must I go on suffering
from the cruelty of my enemies?
3 Send your light and your truth;
may they lead me
and bring me back to Zion, your sacred hill,[b]
and to your Temple, where you live.
4 Then I will go to your altar, O God;
you are the source of my happiness.
I will play my harp and sing praise to you,
O God, my God.
5 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so troubled?
I will put my hope in God,
and once again I will praise him,
my savior and my God.
5 I have entered my garden,
my sweetheart, my bride.
I am gathering my spices and myrrh;
I am eating my honey and honeycomb;
I am drinking my wine and milk.
The Women
Eat, lovers, and drink
until you are drunk with love!
The Fourth Song
The Woman
2 While I slept, my heart was awake.
I dreamed my lover knocked at the door.
The Man
Let me come in, my darling,
my sweetheart, my dove.
My head is wet with dew,
and my hair is damp from the mist.
The Woman
3 I have already undressed;
why should I get dressed again?
I have washed my feet;
why should I get them dirty again?
4 My lover put his hand to the door,
and I was thrilled that he was near.
5 I was ready to let him come in.
My hands were covered with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
as I grasped the handle of the door.
6 I opened the door for my lover,
but he had already gone.
How I wanted to hear his voice!
I looked for him, but couldn't find him;
I called to him, but heard no answer.
7 The sentries patrolling the city found me;
they struck me and bruised me;
the guards at the city wall tore off my cape.
8 Promise me, women of Jerusalem,
that if you find my lover,
you will tell him I am weak from passion.
The Women
9 Most beautiful of women,
is your lover different from everyone else?
What is there so wonderful about him
that we should give you our promise?
The Woman
10 My lover is handsome and strong;
he is one in ten thousand.
11 His face is bronzed and smooth;
his hair is wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as beautiful as doves by a flowing brook,
doves washed in milk and standing by the stream.[a]
13 His cheeks are as lovely as a garden
that is full of herbs and spices.
His lips are like lilies,
wet with liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are well-formed,
and he wears rings set with gems.
His body is like smooth ivory,[b]
with sapphires set in it.
15 His thighs are columns of alabaster
set in sockets of gold.
He is majestic, like the Lebanon Mountains
with their towering cedars.
16 His mouth is sweet to kiss;
everything about him enchants me.
This is what my lover is like,
women of Jerusalem.
5 Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins. 2 Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes. 3 (A)And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins. 4 (B)No one chooses for himself the honor of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest—just as Aaron was.
5 (C)In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”
6 (D)He also said in another place,
“You will be a priest forever,
in the priestly order of Melchizedek.” [a]
7 (E)In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him. 8 But even though he was God's Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient. 9 When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him, 10 and God declared him to be high priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.[b]
Warning against Abandoning the Faith
11 There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand. 12 (F)There has been enough time for you to be teachers—yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk. 13 Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong. 14 Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.
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.