M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Nadab and Abihu
10 Now Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, each took an incense pan. They put fire and incense on them and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 Then fire flew out from before the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
3 Moses said to Aaron, “When the Lord said, ‘I will show that I am holy among those near me, and before all the people I will manifest my glorious presence,’ this is what he meant!” But Aaron was silent.
4 Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and told them, “Go carry your relatives out from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” 5 So they went forward and carried Nadab and Abihu out by their tunics to a place outside the camp, just as Moses had ordered. 6 Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Don’t dishevel your hair and don’t rip your clothes into pieces, or you will die and bring anger upon the whole community. Your family—all of Israel’s house—will mourn the burning the Lord has done. 7 But you must not leave the meeting tent, or you will die because the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did what Moses ordered.
Priestly drinking and eating
8 The Lord said to Aaron: 9 Both you and your sons must not drink wine or beer when you enter the meeting tent so that you don’t die—this is a permanent rule throughout your future generations— 10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so that you can teach the Israelites all the rules that the Lord spoke to them through Moses.
12 Moses then told Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s food gifts and eat it unleavened next to the altar, because it is most holy. 13 You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion and your sons’ portion from the Lord’s food gifts, as I have been commanded. 14 You must eat the breast for the uplifted offering and the thigh for the gift offering in a clean place—both you and your sons and daughters. These things are designated as your portion and your children’s portion from the Israelites’ communal sacrifices of well-being. 15 The Israelites must bring the thigh for the gift and the breast for the uplifted offering along with the food gifts of the fat pieces, to be lifted up as an uplifted offering before the Lord. These will belong to both you and your children as a permanent portion, just as the Lord has commanded.”
16 Then Moses asked about the male goat for the purification offering, and discovered that it had already been burned. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, 17 “Why didn’t you eat the purification offering in the holy area? It’s most holy, and it was assigned to you for bearing the community’s punishment by making reconciliation for them before the Lord. 18 Since its blood wasn’t brought into the sanctuary’s interior, you were to have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I was commanded.”[a]
19 “Look,” Aaron said to Moses, “today they offered their purification offerings and their entirely burned offerings before the Lord, but these things still happened to me! Would the Lord have approved if I had eaten a purification offering today?” 20 When Moses heard that, he approved.[b]
Psalm 11
For the music leader. Of David.
11 I have taken refuge in the Lord.
So how can you say to me,[a]
“Flee to the hills like a bird
2 because the wicked
have already bent their bows;
they’ve already strung their arrows;
they are ready to secretly shoot
those whose heart is right”?
3 When the very bottom of things falls out,
what can a righteous person possibly accomplish?
4 But the Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord! His throne is in heaven.
His eyes see—
his vision examines all of humanity.
5 The Lord examines
both the righteous and the wicked;
his very being[b] hates anyone who loves violence.
6 God will rain fiery coals and sulfur on the wicked;
their cups will be filled
with nothing but a scorching hot wind
7 because the Lord is righteous!
He loves righteous deeds.
Those whose heart is right will see God’s face.[c]
Psalm 12
For the music leader. According to the Sheminith.[d] A psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;
the faithful have completely disappeared
from the human race!
2 Everyone tells lies to everyone else;
they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.
3 Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips
and every tongue that brags and brags,
4 that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!
Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”
5 But the Lord says,
“Because the poor are oppressed,
because of the groans of the needy,
I’m now standing up.
I will provide the help they are gasping for.”[e]
6 The Lord’s promises are pure,
like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
purified seven times over!
7 You, Lord, will keep us,[f]
protecting us from this generation forever.
8 The wicked roam all over the place,
while depravity is praised by human beings.
More proverbs of Solomon
25 These are also proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah:
2 It is the glory of God to hide something
and the glory of kings to discover something.
3 Like the high heavens and the depths of the earth,
so the mind of a king is unsearchable.
4 Remove the dross from the silver,
and a vessel will come out for the refiner.
5 Remove the wicked from the king’s presence,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.
6 Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king,
or stand in the place of important people,
7 because it is better that he say to you,
“Come up here,”
than to be demoted before a ruler.
What your eyes see, 8 don’t be quick to quarrel over;
what will you do in the future when your neighbor shames you?
9 Argue it out with your neighbor,
and don’t give away someone’s secret.
10 Otherwise, the one who hears it will vilify you;
the slander against you will never stop.
11 Words spoken at the right time
are like gold apples in a silver setting.
12 Wise correction to an ear that listens
is like a gold earring or jewelry of fine gold.
13 Like the coolness of snow on a harvest day
are reliable messengers to those who send them;
they restore the life of their master.
14 People who brag about a gift never given
are like clouds and wind that produce no rain.
15 A commander can be persuaded with patience,
and a tender tongue can break a bone.
16 If you find honey, eat just the right amount;
otherwise, you’ll get full and vomit it up.
17 Don’t spend too much time in your neighbor’s house.
Otherwise, they’ll get fed up with you and hate you.
18 People who testify falsely against their neighbors
are like a club, sword, and sharpened arrow.
19 Trusting a treacherous person at a difficult time
is like having a bad tooth or a wobbly foot.
20 Singing a song to a troubled heart
is like taking off a garment on a cold day
or putting vinegar on a wound.[a]
21 If your enemies are starving, feed them some bread;
if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
22 By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.
23 The north wind stirs up rain,
and a person who plots quietly provokes angry faces.
24 Better to live on the edge of a roof
than to share a house with a contentious woman.
25 Good news from a distant land
is like cold water for a weary person.
26 A righteous person giving in to the wicked
is like a contaminated spring or a polluted fountain.
27 Eating too much honey isn’t good,
nor is it appropriate to seek honor.
28 A person without self-control
is like a breached city, one with no walls.
Living that pleases God
4 So then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to keep living the way you already are and even do better in how you live and please God—just as you learned from us. 2 You know the instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 God’s will is that your lives are dedicated to him.[a] This means that you stay away from sexual immorality 4 and learn how to control your own body in a pure[b] and respectable way. 5 Don’t be controlled by your sexual urges like the Gentiles who don’t know God. 6 No one should mistreat or take advantage of their brother or sister in this issue. The Lord punishes people for all these things, as we told you before and sternly warned you. 7 God didn’t call us to be immoral but to be dedicated to him.[c] 8 Therefore, whoever rejects these instructions isn’t rejecting a human authority. They are rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9 You don’t need us to write about loving your brothers and sisters because God has already taught you to love each other. 10 In fact, you are doing loving deeds for all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. Now we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do so even more. 11 Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you. 12 That way you’ll behave appropriately toward outsiders, and you won’t be in need.
Believers who have died
13 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about people who have died[d] so that you won’t mourn like others who don’t have any hope. 14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose, so we also believe that God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus. 15 What we are saying is a message from the Lord: we who are alive and still around at the Lord’s coming definitely won’t go ahead of those who have died. 16 This is because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with the signal of a shout by the head angel and a blast on God’s trumpet. First, those who are dead in Christ will rise. 17 Then, we who are living and still around will be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet with the Lord in the air. That way we will always be with the Lord. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible