M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Dedications
27 The Lord said to Moses, 2 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When a person makes a solemn promise to the Lord involving the value of a person, 3 if it is the value for a male between 20 and 60 years old, his value is fifty silver shekels according to the sanctuary’s shekel. 4 If the person is a female, her value is thirty shekels. 5 If the age of the person is between 5 and 20 years, the value for a male is twenty shekels, for a female ten shekels. 6 If the age of the person is between one month and 5 years, the value for a male is five silver shekels, for a female three silver shekels. 7 If the age of the person is 60 years or more, the value is fifteen shekels if the person is male, ten shekels for a female. 8 But if financial difficulty prevents the promise maker from giving the full value, they must set the person before the priest. The priest will assign the person a value according to what the promise maker can afford.
9 If a solemn promise involves livestock that can be offered to the Lord, any such animal given to the Lord will be considered holy. 10 The promise maker cannot replace or substitute for it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if one should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute will be holy. 11 If the solemn promise involves any kind of unclean animal that cannot be offered to the Lord, the promise maker must set the animal before the priest. 12 The priest will assign it a value, whether high or low.[a] Its value will be what the priest says. 13 If the promise maker wishes to buy it back, they must add one-fifth to its value.
14 When someone dedicates their house to the Lord as holy, the priest will assign a value to it, whether high or low. The value is fixed, whatever value the priest assigns to it. 15 If the one who dedicates the house wishes to buy it back, they must add one-fifth to its valued price, and it will be theirs again.
16 If a person dedicates part of the land from their family property to the Lord, the value will be set according to the seed needed to plant it: fifty silver shekels per homer of barley seed. 17 If the person dedicates the piece of land during the Jubilee year, its value will stay fixed. 18 But if the person dedicates the piece after the Jubilee year, the priest will calculate the price according to the years that are left until the next Jubilee year, and the value will be reduced. 19 If the one who dedicates the land wishes to buy it back, they must add one-fifth to its valued price, and it will be theirs again. 20 But if they do not buy it back or if it was sold to someone else, it is no longer able to be bought back. 21 When the piece of land is released in the Jubilee year, it will be holy to the Lord like a piece of devoted land; it will be the priest’s property. 22 If the person dedicates land they purchased to the Lord—land that is not part of their family property— 23 the priest will calculate the amount of its value until the Jubilee year. The person must pay the value on that day as a holy donation to the Lord. 24 In the Jubilee year the piece of land will return to the seller, to the one who is the original owner of the family property. 25 Every value will be according to the sanctuary’s shekel. The shekel will be twenty gerahs.
26 But note that a person cannot dedicate any oldest offspring from livestock, which already belongs to the Lord because it is the oldest. Whether ox or sheep, it belongs to the Lord. 27 If it is an unclean animal, it may be bought back at its value plus twenty percent. If it is not bought back, it will be sold at its set value.
28 Also note that everything someone devotes[b] to the Lord from their possessions—whether humans, animals, or pieces of land from their family property—cannot be sold or bought back. Every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. 29 No human beings that have been devoted can be bought back; they must be executed.
30 All tenth-part gifts[c] from the land, whether of seed from the ground or fruit from the trees, belong to the Lord; they are holy to the Lord. 31 If someone wishes to buy back part of their tenth-part gift, they must add one-fifth to it. 32 All tenth-part gifts from a herd or flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s staff—will be holy to the Lord. 33 The one bringing the tenth-part gift must not pick out the good from the bad, and cannot substitute any animal. But if one should substitute an animal, both it and the substitute will be holy and cannot be bought back.
34 These are the commands that the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Psalm 34[a]
Of David, when he pretended to be crazy before Abimelech, who banished him so that he left.
34 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be in my mouth.
2 I[b] praise the Lord—
let the suffering listen and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me!
Together let us lift his name up high!
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me.
He delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to God will shine;
their faces are never ashamed.
6 This suffering person cried out:
the Lord listened and saved him from every trouble.
7 On every side, the Lord’s messenger protects those who honor God; and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see how good the Lord is!
The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!
9 You who are the Lord’s holy ones, honor him,
because those who honor him don’t lack a thing.
10 Even strong young lions go without and get hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me.
Let me teach you how to honor the Lord:
12 Do you love life;
do you relish the chance to enjoy good things?
13 Then you must keep your tongue from evil
and keep your lips from speaking lies!
14 Turn away from evil! Do good!
Seek peace and go after it!
15 The Lord’s eyes watch the righteous,
his ears listen to their cries for help.
16 But the Lord’s face is set against those who do evil,
to eliminate even the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry out, the Lord listens;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he saves those whose spirits are crushed.
19 The righteous have many problems,
but the Lord delivers them from every one.
20 He protects all their bones;
not even one will be broken.
21 But just one problem will kill the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be held responsible.
22 The Lord saves his servants’ lives;
all those who take refuge in him
won’t be held responsible for anything.
10 As dead flies spoil the perfumer’s oil,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 The mind of the wise tends toward the right,
but the mind of the fool toward the left.
3 Fools lack all sense even when they walk down the street;
they show everyone that they are fools.
4 If a ruler’s temper rises against you,
don’t leave your post, because calmness alleviates great offenses.
5 There’s an evil that I have seen under the sun: the kind of mistake that comes from people in power. 6 Fools are appointed to high posts, while the rich sit in lowly positions. 7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes walk on foot like slaves.
8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it,
and whoever breaks through a wall
may be bitten by a snake.
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs
may be endangered by them.
10 If an ax is dull
and one doesn’t sharpen it first,
then one must exert more force.
It’s profitable to be skillful and wise.
11 If a snake bites before it’s charmed,
then there’s no profit
for the snake charmer.
12 Words from a wise person’s mouth are beneficial,
but fools are devoured by their own lips.
13 Fools start out talking foolishness
and end up speaking awful nonsense.
14 Fools talk too much!
No one knows what will happen;
no one can say what will happen in the future.
15 The hard work of fools tires them out
because they don’t even know the way to town!
16 Too bad for you, land,
whose king is a boy
and whose princes feast in the morning.
17 Happy is the land
whose king is dignified
and whose princes feast at the right time for energy,
not for drunkenness.
18 Through laziness, the roof sags;
through idle hands, the house leaks.
19 Feasts are made for laughter,
wine cheers the living,
and money answers everything.[a]
20 Don’t curse a king even in private; don’t curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird could carry your voice; some winged creature could report what you said!
Teaching all people how to be godly
2 But you should talk in a way that is consistent with sound teaching. 2 Tell the older men to be sober, dignified, sensible, and healthy in respect to their faith, love, and patience.
3 Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in their behavior, teaching what is good, rather than being gossips or addicted to heavy drinking. 4 That way they can mentor young women to love their husbands and children, 5 and to be sensible, morally pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, so that God’s word won’t be ridiculed. 6 Likewise, encourage the younger men to be sensible 7 in every way. Offer yourself as a role model of good actions. Show integrity, seriousness, 8 and a sound message that is above criticism when you teach, so that any opponent will be ashamed because they won’t find anything bad to say about us.
9 Tell slaves to submit to their own masters and please them in everything they do. They shouldn’t talk back 10 or steal. Instead, they should show that they are completely reliable in everything so that they might make the teaching about God our savior attractive in every way.
11 The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It educates us so that we can live sensible, ethical, and godly lives right now by rejecting ungodly lives and the desires of this world. 13 At the same time we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of our great God and savior Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us in order to rescue us from every kind of lawless behavior, and cleanse a special people for himself who are eager to do good actions.
15 Talk about these things. Encourage and correct with complete authority. Don’t let anyone disrespect you.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible