M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Regulations concerning Priests

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘^(A)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ^2 (B)except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, ³ also for his virgin sister, who is near to him ^[a]because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself as a ^[b]relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ^5 (C)They shall not make any baldness on their heads, ^(D)nor shave off the edges of their beards, ^(E)nor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and ^(F)not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire ^[c]to the Lord, ^(G)the food of their God; so they shall be holy. ^7 (H)They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸ You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers ^(I)the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. ^9 (J)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^[d]who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(K)shall not ^[e]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ^11 (L)nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; ^12 (M)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^(N)the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. ¹³ He shall take a wife in her virginity. ^14 (O)A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to ^[f]marry a virgin of his own people, ¹⁵ so that he will not profane his ^[g]offspring among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your ^[h]offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the ^(P)food of his God. ^18 (Q)For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a ^[i](R)disfigured face, or any deformed limb, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a ^[j]defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or ^(S)crushed testicles. ²¹ No man among the ^[k]descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer ^(T)the food of his God. ²² He may eat ^(U)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, ²³ only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Protestation of Integrity and Prayer for Protection.

A Psalm of David.

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

The Evils of Oppression

4 Then I looked again at all the acts of ^(A)oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had ^(B)no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. ² So ^(C)I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. ³ But ^(D)better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

⁴ I have seen that every labor and every ^(E)skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is ^[a](F)vanity and striving after wind. ⁵ The fool ^(G)folds his hands and ^(H)consumes his own flesh. ⁶ One hand full of rest is ^(I)better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

⁷ Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. ⁸ There was a certain man without a ^[b]dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, ^(J)his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And ^(K)for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a ^(L)grievous task.

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if ^[c]either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not ^[d]another to lift him up. ¹¹ Furthermore, if two lie down together they ^[e]keep warm, but ^(M)how can one be warm alone? ¹² And if ^[f]one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

¹³ A ^(N)poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive ^[g]instruction. ¹⁴ For he has come ^(O)out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom. ¹⁵ I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who ^[h]replaces him. ¹⁶ There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is ^(P)vanity and striving after wind.

Instructions to Those Who Minister

6 ^(A)All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so ^(B)that the name of God and our doctrine will not be ^[a]spoken against. ² Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are ^(C)brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who ^[b]partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. ^(D)Teach and ^[c]preach these principles.

³ If anyone ^(E)advocates a different doctrine and does not ^[d]agree with ^(F)sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine ^(G)conforming to godliness, ⁴ he is ^(H)conceited and understands nothing; but he ^[e]has a morbid interest in ^(I)controversial questions and ^(J)disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction between ^(K)men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who ^(L)suppose that ^[f]godliness is a means of gain. ^6 (M)But godliness actually is a means of ^(N)great gain when accompanied by ^(O)contentment. ⁷ For ^(P)we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸ If we ^(Q)have food and covering, with these we shall be content. ^9 (R)But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and ^(S)a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For ^(T)the love of money is a root of all ^[g]sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have ^(U)wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹ But ^(V)flee from these things, you ^(W)man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, ^(X)faith, ^(Y)love, ^[h]perseverance and gentleness. ^12 (Z)Fight the good fight of ^(AA)faith; ^(AB)take hold of the eternal life ^(AC)to which you were called, and you made the good ^(AD)confession in the presence of ^(AE)many witnesses. ^13 (AF)I charge you in the presence of God, who ^[i]gives life to all things, and of ^(AG)Christ Jesus, who testified the ^(AH)good confession ^(AI)before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the ^(AJ)appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which He will ^[j]bring about at ^(AK)the proper time—He who is ^(AL)the blessed and ^(AM)only Sovereign, ^(AN)the King of ^[k]kings and ^(AO)Lord of ^[l]lords, ^16 (AP)who alone possesses immortality and ^(AQ)dwells in unapproachable light, ^(AR)whom no man has seen or can see. ^(AS)To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

¹⁷ Instruct those who are rich in ^(AT)this present world ^(AU)not to be conceited or to ^(AV)fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, ^(AW)who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ¹⁸ Instruct them to do good, to be rich in ^(AX)good ^[m]works, ^(AY)to be generous and ready to share, ^19 (AZ)storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may ^(BA)take hold of that which is life indeed.

²⁰ O ^(BB)Timothy, guard ^(BC)what has been entrusted to you, avoiding ^(BD)worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— ²¹ which some have professed and thus ^(BE)gone astray ^[n]from ^(BF)the faith.

^(BG)Grace be with you.