M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Day of Reconciliation
16 After the death of Aaron’s two sons, which happened when they approached the Lord and died, the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Tell your brother Aaron that he cannot come whenever he wants into the holy area inside the inner curtain, to the front of the cover[a] that is on the chest, or else he will die, because I am present[b] in the cloud above the cover. 3 No, but Aaron must enter the holy area as follows: with a bull from the herd as a purification offering and a ram as an entirely burned offering. 4 Aaron must dress in a holy linen tunic and wear linen undergarments on his body. He must tie a linen sash around himself and wrap a linen turban around his head. These are holy clothes—Aaron will first bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 He will take from the Israelite community two male goats for a purification offering and one ram for an entirely burned offering.
6 Aaron will offer the bull as a purification offering to make reconciliation for himself and his household. 7 He will take the two male goats and place them before the Lord at the meeting tent’s entrance. 8 Aaron will cast lots over the two goats: one lot labeled “the Lord’s” and the other lot labeled “Azazel’s.”[c] 9 Aaron will present the goat selected by the Lord’s lot and perform a purification offering with it. 10 But the goat selected by Azazel’s lot will be left standing alive before the Lord in order to make reconciliation upon it[d] by sending it away into the wilderness to Azazel.
11 Aaron will offer the bull for his purification offering to make reconciliation for himself and his household. He will slaughter the bull for his purification offering. 12 Then he will take an incense pan full of burning coals from the altar, from before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground perfumed incense and bring them inside the inner curtain. 13 He will put the incense on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud of incense conceals the cover that is on top of the covenant document, or else he will die. 14 He will take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the cover from the east side. He will then sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times in front of the cover. 15 Then he will slaughter the goat for the people’s purification offering, bring the blood inside the inner curtain, and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: he will sprinkle it on the cover and in front of the cover. 16 In this way, he will make reconciliation for the inner holy area because of the pollution of the Israelites and because of their rebellious sins, as well as for all their other sins.
Aaron must do the same for the meeting tent, which is with them among their pollution. 17 No one can be in the meeting tent from the time Aaron enters to make reconciliation in the inner holy area until the time he comes out. He will make reconciliation for himself, for his household, and for the whole assembly of Israel.
18 Aaron will then go to the altar that is before the Lord and make reconciliation for it: He will take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on each of the altar’s horns. 19 He will sprinkle some of the blood on the altar with his finger seven times. In this way, he will purify it and make it holy again from the Israelites’ pollution.
20 When Aaron has finished reconciling the inner holy area, the rest of the meeting tent, and the altar, he will bring forward the live goat. 21 Aaron will press both his hands on its head and confess over it all the Israelites’ offenses and all their rebellious sins, as well as all their other sins, putting all these on the goat’s head. Then he will send it away into the wilderness with someone designated for the job.[e] 22 The goat will carry on itself all their offenses to a desolate region, then the goat will be released into the wild.
23 After this, Aaron will enter the meeting tent, take off the linen clothes he was wearing when he entered the inner holy area, and will leave them there. 24 He will bathe his body in water in a holy place and dress in his priestly clothing. Then he will go out and perform the entirely burned offerings for himself and for the people. In this way, he will make reconciliation for himself and for the people. 25 He will completely burn the fat of the purification offering on the altar. 26 The one who set the goat free for Azazel must wash their clothes and bathe their body in water; after that they can return to the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the purification offerings, whose blood was brought in to make reconciliation in the inner holy area, will be taken outside the camp. Their hides, flesh, and dung will be burned with fire. 28 The person who burns them must wash their clothes and bathe their body in water; after that, they can return to the camp.
29 This will be a permanent rule for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month,[f] you must deny yourselves. You must not do any work—neither the citizen nor the immigrant who lives among you. 30 On that day reconciliation will be made for you in order to cleanse you. You will be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 It will be a Sabbath of special rest for you, and you will deny yourselves. This is a permanent rule.
Conclusion concerning the Day of Reconciliation
32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest after his father will perform the reconciliation, wearing the holy linen clothes. 33 He will reconcile the holiest part of the sanctuary and will do the same for the meeting tent and the altar. He will make reconciliation for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This will be a permanent rule for you, in order to make reconciliation for the Israelites from all their sins once a year.
It was done just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Psalm 19
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
19 Heaven is declaring God’s glory;
the sky is proclaiming his handiwork.
2 One day gushes the news to the next,
and one night informs another what needs to be known.
3 Of course, there’s no speech, no words—
their voices can’t be heard—
4 but their sound[a] extends throughout the world;
their words reach the ends of the earth.
God has made a tent in heaven for the sun.
5 The sun is like a groom
coming out of his honeymoon suite;
like a warrior, it thrills at running its course.
6 It rises in one end of the sky;
its circuit is complete at the other.
Nothing escapes its heat.
7 The Lord’s Instruction is perfect,
reviving one’s very being.[b]
The Lord’s laws are faithful,
making naive people wise.
8 The Lord’s regulations are right,
gladdening the heart.
The Lord’s commands are pure,
giving light to the eyes.
9 Honoring the Lord is correct,
lasting forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true.
All of these are righteous!
10 They are more desirable than gold—
than tons of pure gold!
They are sweeter than honey—
even dripping off the honeycomb!
11 No doubt about it:
your servant is enlightened by them;
there is great reward in keeping them.
12 But can anyone know
what they’ve accidentally done wrong?
Clear me of any unknown sin
13 and save your servant from willful sins.
Don’t let them rule me.
Then I’ll be completely blameless;
I’ll be innocent of great wrongdoing.
14 Let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to you,
Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Words of Agur
30 The words of Agur, Jakeh’s son, from Massa.
The man declares: I’m tired, God;
I’m tired, God, and I’m exhausted.
2 Actually, I’m too stupid to be human,
a man without understanding.
3 I haven’t learned wisdom,
nor do I have knowledge of the holy one.
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind by the handful?
Who has bound up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is this person’s name and the name of this person’s child—
if you know it?
5 All God’s words are tried and true;
a shield for those who take refuge in him.
6 Don’t add to his words,
or he will correct you and show you to be a liar.
7 Two things I ask of you;
don’t keep them from me before I die:
8 Fraud and lies—
keep far from me!
Don’t give me either poverty or wealth;
give me just the food I need.
9 Or I’ll be full and deny you,
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or I’ll be poor and steal,
and dishonor my God’s name.
More sayings of the wise
10 Don’t slander a servant to his master;
otherwise, the servant will curse you, and you will be guilty.
11 There are those who curse their father
and don’t bless their mother.
12 There are those who think they are clean,
but haven’t washed off their own excrement.
13 There are those—
how arrogant are their eyes;
how their eyebrows are raised!
14 There are those whose teeth are swords;
their jaw is a butcher’s knife,
ready to devour the needy from the earth,
and the poor from humanity.
15 The leech has two daughters: “Give, give!”
There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, “Enough!”:
16 the grave[a] and a barren womb,
a land never filled with water,
and fire that doesn’t say, “Enough!”
17 An eye that mocks a father
and rejects obedience to a mother,
may the ravens of the river valley peck it out,
and the eagle’s young eat it.
18 Three things are too wonderful for me,
four that I can’t figure out:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on the rock,
the way of a ship out on the open sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats and wipes her mouth,
and she says, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”
21 At three things the earth trembles,
at four it can’t bear up:
22 at a servant when he becomes king
and fools when they are full of food;
23 at a detested woman when she gets married
and a female servant when she replaces her mistress.
24 Four things are among the smallest on earth,
but they are extremely wise:
25 Ants as creatures aren’t strong,
but they store away their food in the summer.
26 Badgers as creatures aren’t powerful,
but they make their homes in the rocks.
27 Locusts don’t have a king,
but they march together in ranks.
28 You can catch lizards in your hand,
but they are in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things that are excellent in their stride,
four that are excellent as they walk:
30 a lion, a warrior among beasts,
which doesn’t back down at anything;
31 the strut of a rooster or a male goat;
and a king with his army.
32 If you’ve been foolish and arrogant,
if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand to your mouth,
33 because churning milk makes curds,
squeezing the nose brings blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.
Greeting
1 From Paul, who is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy’s purpose in Ephesus
3 When I left for Macedonia, I asked you to stay behind in Ephesus so that you could instruct certain individuals not to spread wrong teaching. 4 They shouldn’t pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. Their teaching only causes useless guessing games instead of faithfulness to God’s way of doing things. 5 The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Because they missed this goal, some people have been distracted by talk that doesn’t mean anything. 7 They want to be teachers of Law without understanding either what they are saying or what they are talking about with such confidence. 8 Now we know that the Law is good if used appropriately. 9 We understand this: the Law isn’t established for a righteous person but for people who live without laws and without obeying any authority. They are the ungodly and the sinners. They are people who are not spiritual, and nothing is sacred to them. They kill their fathers and mothers, and murder others. 10 They are people who are sexually unfaithful, and people who have intercourse with the same sex. They are kidnappers,[a] liars, individuals who give false testimonies in court, and those who do anything else that is opposed to sound teaching. 11 Sound teaching agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God that has been trusted to me.
Thanksgiving
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength because he considered me faithful. So he appointed me to ministry 13 even though I used to speak against him, attack his people, and I was proud. But I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and without faith. 14 Our Lord’s favor poured all over me along with the faithfulness and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 This saying is reliable and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I’m the biggest sinner of all. 16 But this is why I was shown mercy, so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience to me first of all. So I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the king of the ages, to the immortal, invisible, and only God, may honor and glory be given to him forever and always! Amen.
Importance of faith and a good conscience
18 Timothy, my child, I’m giving you these instructions based on the prophecies that were once made about you. So if you follow them, you can wage a good war 19 because you have faith and a good conscience. Some people have ruined their faith because they refused to listen to their conscience, 20 such as Hymenaeus and Alexander. I’ve handed them over to Satan so that they can be taught not to speak against God.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible