M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Parashat Beha’alotecha
Dedication of the Levites
8 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you erect the lamps, the seven lamps are to illuminate the area in front of the menorah.” 3 Aaron did so. He erected the lamps facing forward so they illuminated the area in front of the menorah, just as Adonai had commanded Moses. 4 Now this is how the menorah was made: hammered gold from its base to its blossoms. Just as was the pattern that Adonai had shown to Moses, so he made the menorah.
5 Again Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among Bnei-Yisrael and ceremonially cleanse them. 7 This is what you must do to them to make them clean: Sprinkle the purifying water on them,[a] then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, thus purifying themselves.
8 “Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a second young bull for a sin offering. 9 Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and gather the whole community of Bnei-Yisrael. 10 Bring the Levites before Adonai, Bnei-Yisrael will lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron will present the Levites before Adonai as a wave offering from Bnei-Yisrael. Then they may go about the work of the service of Adonai.
12 “The Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Adonai to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and present them as a wave offering to Adonai. 14 In this way you are to set apart the Levites from Bnei-Yisrael to be Mine. 15 After you have purified them and presented them as a wave offering, the Levites will come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. 16 For they are the ones from among Bnei-Yisrael given to Me in place of all the first from the wombs of Bnei-Yisrael. I have taken them for Myself.
17 “For every firstborn among Bnei-Yisrael is Mine, whether human or animal. On the day I struck down the firstborn of the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. [b] 18 So I am taking the Levites in place of the firstborn of Bnei-Yisrael, 19 and I am giving the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among Bnei-Yisrael, to do the work on behalf of Bnei-Yisrael in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for them—so that there would be no plague among them for coming too close to the Sanctuary.”
20 So Moses, Aaron and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael did so with the Levites. All that Adonai had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so Bnei-Yisrael did to them. 21 The Levites also purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Adonai, and, he made atonement for them to purify them. 22 After that, the Levites came to do their tasks before Aaron and his sons in the Tent of Meeting, just as Adonai had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.
23 Adonai again spoke to Moses saying, 24 “This is for the Levites. Men 25 years old and upward are to present themselves for service to work in the Tent of Meeting. 25 But at the age of 50 he is to retire from his service and work no longer. 26 He may assist his brothers in the Tent of Meeting to do their duties, but he himself will no longer do the work. Thus, you are to assign to the Levites their responsibilities.”
Arise, O God of Our Fathers
Psalm 44
1 For the music director, a psalm of the sons of Korah, a contemplative song.
2 We have heard with our ears, O God
—our fathers have told us—
of a work You did in their days, in days of old.
3 With Your hand You displaced nations, but You planted them.
You afflicted peoples, and You drove them out.
4 For it was not by their own sword that they took possession of the land,
nor did their own arm save them.
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face—
for You favored them.
5 You are my King, O God—
command victories for Jacob!
6 Through You we push back our foes.
Through Your Name we trample those rising up against us.
7 For I do not trust in my bow,
nor can my sword save me.
8 For You saved us from our oppressors
and put to shame those who hated us.
9 In God we make our boast all day
and Your Name we praise forever. Selah
10 Yet You have spurned and humiliated us,
and no longer go out with our armies.
11 You make us retreat before the enemy.
Those who hate us have plundered us.
12 You gave us to be devoured like sheep[a]
and have scattered us among the nations.
13 You are selling Your people cheaply—
not even getting a great price for them.
14 You made us a taunt for our neighbors,
a scorn and ridicule for those around us.
15 You have made us a byword among the nations,
head-wagging among the peoples.
16 All day my disgrace is before me,
and my face is covered with shame—
17 because of the sound of taunting and reviling
from the face of a vengeful enemy.
18 All this came upon us, though we did not forget You,
nor were we false to Your covenant.
19 Our heart did not turn back,
nor did our steps stray from Your path.
20 Yet You crushed us in a place of jackals,
covered us with the shadow of death.
21 If we had forgotten the Name of our God
or stretched our hands to a foreign god,
22 would God not have discovered it?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
23 But for Your sake we are slain all day.
We are counted as sheep for slaughter.[b]
24 Awake! Why do you sleep, my Lord?
Wake up! Do not cast us off forever.
25 Why do You hide Your face
and forget our misery and oppression?
26 For our soul sinks down to the dust.
Our belly cleaves to the earth.
27 Arise, be our help,
and redeem us
for Your mercy’s sake.
6 Where has your lover gone,
most beautiful among women?
Where has your lover turned,
so we may seek him with you?
2 My lover went down to his garden,
to the beds of balsam
to graze his flocks in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
He browses among the lilies.
Acclaiming the Bride’s Beauty
4 You are beautiful, my darling,
like Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of ewe goats
descending down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that have come up from the washing.
Each of them has a twin,
and none among them is missing.
7 Your temple is like a slice of pomegranate
behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
and young women beyond number.
9 Yet my dove, my perfect one is unique.
She is her mother’s only one—
a virtuous child of the one who bore her.
Maidens saw her and called her blessed.
Queens and concubines praised her.
10 Who is this that appears like dawn?
As beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awesome as an army with banners.
11 I went down into the garden of nut trees
to look at the fruit of the valley,
to see if the vine had budded,
or the pomegranates had bloomed.
12 Before I was aware, my soul set me
among the chariots of my princely people.
6 Therefore leaving the basic teaching of the Messiah, let us move on toward maturity—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of trust in God, 2 of teaching about immersions, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 Now this we will do, if God permits.
4 For it is impossible for those who once were enlightened—having tasted of the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, 5 and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the olam ha-ba, 6 and then having fallen away—to renew again to repentance, since they are again crucifying Ben-Elohim for themselves and publicly disgracing Him. 7 For the earth—having soaked up the rain frequently falling on it—brings forth vegetation[a] useful to those for whom it is farmed; and it shares in God’s blessing. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed—its end is to be burned over.[b]
9 But even though we speak like this, loved ones, concerning you we are convinced of better things[c]—things coming with salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you showed for His name, in having served and continuing to serve the kedoshim. 11 But we long for each of you to show the same eagerness for the certainty of hope to the very end— 12 so you will not be sluggish,[d] but imitators of those inheriting the promises through trust and perseverance.
The Promise and the Oath
13 Now when God made His promise to Abraham—since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you, and surely I will multiply you.” [e] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham reached the promise. [f] 16 For people swear by someone greater; and the oath, as confirmation, is an end to all their disputing. 17 In the same way God, determining to point out more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchanging nature of His purpose, guaranteed it with an oath. 18 So by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie,[g] we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, both firm and steady—a hope that enters the inner place behind the curtain. [h] 20 Yeshua has entered there as a forerunner on our behalf, having become Kohen Gadol “forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”[i]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.