M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Passover
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. This was in the first month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. 3 That appointed time is the fourteenth day of this month. They should celebrate it at twilight. They must obey all the rules about it.”
4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover. 5 And so they did. It was in the Desert of Sinai at twilight. This was on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
6 But some of the people could not celebrate the Passover on that day. They were unclean because of a dead body. So they went to Moses and Aaron that day. 7 They said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body. But why should we be kept from offering gifts to the Lord at this appointed time? Why can’t we join the other Israelites?”
8 Moses said to them, “Wait. I will find out what the Lord says about you.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You or your descendants might become unclean because of a dead body. Or, you might be away on a trip during the Passover. Still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11 But celebrate it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. 12 Don’t leave any of it until the next morning. Don’t break any of its bones. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules. 13 Anyone who is clean and is not away on a trip must eat the Passover. If he doesn’t, he must be separated from his people. He did not give an offering to the Lord at the appointed time. He must be punished for his sin.
14 “‘A foreigner among you may celebrate the Lord’s Passover. But he must follow all the rules. You must have the same rules for foreigners as you have for yourselves.’”
The Cloud Above the Tent
15 On the day the Holy Tent was set up, a cloud covered it. (The Holy Tent was also called the Tent of the Agreement.) From dusk until dawn the cloud above the Tent looked like fire. 16 The cloud stayed above the Tent. At night it looked like fire. 17 When the cloud moved from its place over the Tent, the Israelites moved. Wherever the cloud stopped, the Israelites camped. 18 So the Israelites moved at the Lord’s command. And they camped at his command. While the cloud stayed over the Tent, they stayed in place. 19 Sometimes the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time. The Israelites obeyed the Lord and did not move. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over it only a few days. At the Lord’s command the people camped. And at his command they moved. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from dusk until dawn. When the cloud lifted the next morning, the people moved. When the cloud lifted, day or night, the people moved. 22 The cloud might stay over the Tent for two days, a month or a year. As long as it stayed, the people would camp. But when the cloud lifted, they moved. 23 At the Lord’s command the people camped. And at his command they moved. They obeyed the Lord’s order that he commanded through Moses.
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.
45 Beautiful words fill my mind.
I am speaking of royal things.
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.
2 You are more handsome than anyone.
You are a very good speaker.
God has blessed you forever.
3 Put on your sword, powerful warrior.
Show your glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty win the victory.
Defend what is true and right.
Your power will do amazing things.
5 Your sharp arrows will enter
the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Nations will be defeated before you.
6 God, your throne will last forever and ever.
You will rule your kingdom with fairness.
7 You love right and hate evil.
So God has chosen you to rule those with you.
Your God has given you much joy.
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
music comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your bride stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir.
10 Listen to me, daughter. Look and pay attention.
Forget your people and your father’s family.
11 The king loves your beauty.
Because he is your master, you should obey him.
12 People from the city of Tyre have brought a gift.
Wealthy people will want to meet you.
13 The princess is very beautiful.
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her beautiful clothes she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow behind her.
And they are also brought to him.
15 They come with happiness and joy.
They enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to take the place of your ancestors.
You will make them rulers through all the land.
17 I will make your name famous from now on.
People will praise you forever and ever.
The Man Speaks to the Woman
7 Your feet are beautiful in sandals,
you daughter of a prince.
Your round thighs are like jewels
shaped by an artist.
2 Your navel is like a round drinking cup
always filled with wine.
Your stomach is like a pile of wheat
with lilies around it like a fence.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns.
They are like twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon
near the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon
which looks toward Damascus.
5 Your head is like Mount Carmel.
And your hair is like purple cloth.
The king is captured in its folds.
6 You are beautiful.
You are very pleasant.
My love, you are full of delights!
7 You are tall like a palm tree.
Your breasts are like its bunches of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb up the palm tree.
I will take hold of its fruit.”
Let your breasts be like bunches of grapes.
Let the smell of your breath be like apples.
9 And let your mouth be like the best wine.
The Woman Speaks to the Man
Let this wine go down sweetly for my lover.
May it flow gently past the lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my lover,
and he desires only me.
11 Come, my lover.
Let’s go out into the country.
Let’s spend the night in the fields.
12 Let’s go early to the vineyards.
Let’s see if the buds are on the vines.
Let’s see if the blossoms have already opened
and if the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrake flowers give their sweet smell.
And at our gates there are all the best fruits.
I have saved them for you, my lover,
the old delights and the new.
The Priest Melchizedek
7 Melchizedek[a] was the king of Salem and a priest for the Most High God. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. When they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham. 2 And Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of goodness.” Also, he is king of Salem, which means “king of peace.” 3 No one knows who Melchizedek’s father or mother was.[b] No one knows where he came from. And no one knows when he was born or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever.
4 You can see that Melchizedek was very great. Abraham, the great father, gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything that Abraham won in battle. 5 Now the law says that those in the tribe of Levi who become priests must get a tenth from the people. The priests collect it from their own people, even though the priests and the people are both from the family of Abraham. 6 Melchizedek was not from the tribe of Levi. But he got a tenth from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises. 7 And everyone knows that the more important person blesses the less important person. 8 Those priests get a tenth, but they are only men who live and then die. But Melchizedek, who got a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says. 9 It is Levi who gets a tenth from the people. But we might even say that when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth, then Levi also paid it. 10 Levi was not yet born. But Levi was in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met Abraham.
11 The people were given the law[c] concerning the system of priests from the tribe of Levi. But they could not be made spiritually perfect through that system of priests. So there was a need for another priest to come. I mean a priest like Melchizedek, not Aaron. 12 And when a different kind of priest comes, the law must be changed, too. 13 We are saying these things about Christ. He belonged to a different tribe. No one from that tribe ever served as a priest at the altar. 14 It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah. And Moses said nothing about priests belonging to that tribe.
Jesus Is Like Melchizedek
15 And this becomes even more clear. We see that another priest comes, who is like Melchizedek.[d] 16 He was not made a priest by human rules and laws. He became a priest through the power of his life, which continues forever. 17 In the Scriptures, this is said about him:
“You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4
18 The old rule is now set aside because it was weak and useless. 19 The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us. And with this hope we can come near to God.
20 Also, it is important that God made an oath when he made Jesus high priest. When the others became priests, there was no oath. 21 But Christ became a priest with God’s oath. God said:
“The Lord has made a promise
and will not change his mind.
‘You are a priest forever.’” Psalm 110:4
22 So this means that Jesus is the guarantee of a better agreement[e] from God to his people.
23 Also, when one of the other priests died, he could not continue being a priest. So there were many priests. 24 But Jesus lives forever. He will never stop serving as priest. 25 So he is always able to save those who come to God through him. He can do this, because he always lives, ready to help those who come before God.
26 So Jesus is the kind of high priest that we need. He is holy; he has no sin in him. He is pure and not influenced by sinners. And he is raised above the heavens. 27 He is not like the other priests. They had to offer sacrifices every day, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people. But Christ does not need to do that. He offered his sacrifice only once and for all time. Christ offered himself! 28 The law chooses high priests who are men with all their weaknesses. But the word of God’s oath came later than the law. It made God’s Son to be the high priest. And that Son has been made perfect forever.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.