M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Elisha Provides Olive Oil for a Widow

4 The wife of a man from the group of the prophets cried out to Elisha. She said, “My husband is dead. You know how much respect he had for the Lord. But he owed money to someone. And now that person is coming to take my two boys away. They will become his slaves.”

² Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me. What do you have in your house?”

“I don’t have anything there at all,” she said. “All I have is a small jar of olive oil.”

³ Elisha said, “Go around to all your neighbors. Ask them for empty jars. Get as many as you can. ⁴ Then go inside your house. Shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars. As each jar is filled, put it over to one side.”

⁵ The woman left him. Then she shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her. And she kept pouring. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she spoke to one of her sons. She said, “Bring me another jar.”

But he replied, “There aren’t any more left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷ She went and told the man of God about it. He said, “Go and sell the oil. Pay what you owe. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

The Son of a Woman From Shunem Is Brought Back to Life

⁸ One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A rich woman lived there. She begged him to stay and have a meal. So every time he came by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ The woman said to her husband, “That man often comes by here. I know that he is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small room for him on the roof. We’ll put a bed and a table in it. We’ll also put a chair and a lamp in it. Then he can stay there when he comes to visit us.”

¹¹ One day Elisha came. He went up to his room and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Go and get the woman from Shunem.” So he did. She stood in front of Elisha. ¹³ He said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to a lot of trouble for us. Now what can we do for you? Can we speak to the king for you? Or can we speak to the commander of the army for you?’ ”

She replied, “I live among my own people. I have everything I need here.”

¹⁴ After she left, Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”

Gehazi said, “She doesn’t have a son. And her husband is old.”

¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Bring her here again.” So he did. She stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ “You will hold a son in your arms,” Elisha said. “It will be about this time next year.”

“No, my master!” she objected. “You are a man of God. So please don’t lie to me!”

¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant. She had a baby boy. It happened the next year about that same time. That’s exactly what Elisha had told her would happen.

¹⁸ The child grew. One day he went out to get his father. His father was with the people who were gathering the crops. ¹⁹ The boy said to his father, “My head hurts! It really hurts!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ The servant lifted up the boy. He carried him to his mother. The boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died. ²¹ She went up to the room on the roof. There she laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.

²² She sent for her husband. She said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey. Then I can go quickly to the man of God and return.”

²³ “Why do you want to go to him today?” he asked. “It isn’t the time for the New Moon feast. It isn’t the Sabbath day.”

“Don’t let that bother you,” she said.

²⁴ She put a saddle on her donkey. She said to her servant, “Let’s go. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you to.” ²⁵ So she started out. She came to Mount Carmel. That’s where the man of God was.

When she was still a long way off, he saw her coming. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the woman from Shunem! ²⁶ Run out there to meet her. Ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

²⁷ She came to the man of God at the mountain. Then she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is suffering terribly. But the Lord hasn’t told me the reason for it. He has hidden it from me.”

²⁸ “My master, did I ask you for a son?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t make me hope for something that won’t happen’?”

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your coat into your belt. Take my walking stick and run to Shunem. Don’t say hello to anyone you see. If anyone says hello to you, don’t answer. Lay my walking stick on the boy’s face.”

³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “I won’t leave you. And that’s just as sure as the Lord and you are alive.” So Elisha got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went on ahead. He laid Elisha’s walking stick on the boy’s face. But there wasn’t any sound. The boy didn’t move at all. So Gehazi went back to Elisha. He told him, “The boy hasn’t awakened.”

³² Elisha arrived at the house. The boy was dead. He was lying on Elisha’s bed. ³³ Elisha went into the room. He shut the door. He was alone with the boy. He prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then Elisha got on the bed. He lay down on the boy. His mouth touched the boy’s mouth. His eyes touched the boy’s eyes. And his hands touched the boy’s hands. As Elisha lay on the boy, the boy’s body grew warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away. He walked back and forth in the room. Then he got on the bed again. He lay down on the boy once more. The boy sneezed seven times. After that, he opened his eyes.

³⁶ Elisha sent for Gehazi. He said to him, “Go and get the woman from Shunem.” So he did. When she came, Elisha said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came in and fell at Elisha’s feet. She bowed down with her face toward the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Deadly Food in a Pot

³⁸ Elisha returned to Gilgal. There wasn’t enough food to eat in that area. The group of the prophets was meeting with Elisha. So he said to his servant, “Put the large pot over the fire. Cook some stew for these prophets.”

³⁹ One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs. He found a wild vine and picked some of its gourds. He picked as many as he could fit in his coat. Then he cut them up and put them into the pot of stew. But no one knew what they were. ⁴⁰ The stew was poured out for the men. They began to eat it. But then they cried out, “Man of God, the food in that pot will kill us!” They couldn’t eat it.

⁴¹ Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it in the pot. He said, “Serve it to the men to eat.” Then there wasn’t anything in the pot that could harm them.

Elisha Feeds 100 People

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God 20 loaves of barley bread. They had been baked from the first grain that had ripened. The man also brought some heads of new grain. “Give this food to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I put this in front of 100 men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. Do it because the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ” ⁴⁴ Then the servant put the food in front of them. They ate it and had some left over. It happened just as the Lord had said it would.

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus, just as God our Savior commanded. Christ Jesus also commanded it. We have put our hope in him.

² Timothy, I am sending you this letter. You are my true son in the faith.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace.

Paul Warns Timothy to Oppose False Teachers

³ Timothy, stay there in Ephesus. That is what I told you to do when I went into Macedonia. I want you to command certain people not to teach things that aren’t true. ⁴ And command them not to spend their time on stories that are made up. They must not waste time on family histories that never end. These things only lead to fights about ideas. They don’t help God’s work move forward. His work is done by faith. ⁵ Love is the purpose of my command. Love comes from a pure heart. It comes from a good sense of what is right and wrong. It comes from faith that is honest and true. ⁶ Some have turned from these teachings. They would rather talk about things that have no meaning. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law. And they are very sure about that law. But they don’t know what they are talking about.

⁸ We know that the law is good if it is used properly. ⁹ We also know that the law isn’t made for godly people. It is made for those who break the law. It is for those who refuse to obey. It is for ungodly and sinful people. It is for those who aren’t holy and who don’t believe. It is for those who kill their fathers or mothers. It is for murderers. ¹⁰ It is for those who commit sexual sins. It is for those who commit homosexual acts. It is for people who buy and sell slaves. It is for liars. It is for people who tell lies in court. It is for those who are a witness to things that aren’t true. And it is for anything else that is the opposite of true teaching. ¹¹ True teaching agrees with the good news about the glory of the blessed God. He trusted me with that good news.

The Lord Pours Out His Grace on Paul

¹² I am thankful to Christ Jesus our Lord. He has given me strength. I thank him that he considered me faithful. I thank him for appointing me to serve him. ¹³ I used to speak evil things against Jesus. I tried to hurt his followers. I really pushed them around. But God showed me mercy anyway. I did those things without knowing any better. I wasn’t a believer. ¹⁴ Our Lord poured out more and more of his grace on me. Along with it came faith and love from Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Here is a saying that you can trust. It should be accepted completely. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst sinner of all. ¹⁶ But for that very reason, God showed me mercy. And I am the worst of sinners. He showed me mercy so that Christ Jesus could show that he is very patient. I was an example for those who would come to believe in him. Then they would receive eternal life. ¹⁷ The eternal King will never die. He can’t be seen. He is the only God. Give him honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul Commands Timothy

¹⁸ My son Timothy, I am giving you this command. It is in keeping with the prophecies once made about you. By remembering them, you can fight the battle well. ¹⁹ Then you will hold on to faith. You will hold on to a good sense of what is right and wrong. Some have not accepted this knowledge of right and wrong. So they have destroyed their faith. They are like a ship that has sunk. ²⁰ Hymenaeus and Alexander are among them. I have handed them over to Satan. That will teach them not to speak evil things against God.

Daniel Has a Vision About a Ram and a Goat

8 It was the third year of King Belshazzar’s rule. After the vision that had already appeared to me, I had another one. ² In my vision I saw myself in the city of Susa. It has high walls around it. It is in the land of Elam. In the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³ I looked up and saw a ram that had two horns. It was standing beside the canal. Its horns were long. One of them was longer than the other. But that horn grew up later. ⁴ I watched the ram as it charged toward the west. It also charged toward the north and the south. No animal could stand up against it. Not one of them could save anyone from its power. It did as it pleased. And it became great.

⁵ I was thinking about all of this. Then a goat suddenly came from the west. It had a large horn between its eyes. The goat raced across the whole earth without even touching the ground. ⁶ It came toward the ram that had the two horns. It was the ram I had seen standing beside the canal. The goat was very angry. It charged at the ram. ⁷ I saw it attack the ram with mighty force. It struck the ram and broke the ram’s two horns. The ram didn’t have the power to stand up against it. The goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped on it. No one could save the ram from the goat’s power. ⁸ The goat became very great. But when its power was at its greatest, the goat’s large horn was broken off. In its place four large horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

⁹ Out of one of the four horns came another horn. It was small at first but became more and more powerful. It grew to the south and to the east and toward the beautiful land of Israel. ¹⁰ It grew until it reached the stars in the sky. It threw some of them down to the earth. And it stomped on them. ¹¹ It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the Lord’s army. It took away the daily sacrifices from the Lord. And his temple in Jerusalem was thrown down. ¹² Because many of the Lord’s people refused to obey him, they were handed over to the horn. The daily sacrifices were also given over to it. The horn was successful no matter what it did. And true worship of God was thrown down to the ground.

¹³ Then I heard a holy angel speaking. Another holy angel spoke to him. He asked, “How long will it take for the vision to come true? When will the daily sacrifices be stopped? When will those who refuse to obey God be destroyed? When will the temple be handed over to an enemy? And when will some of the Lord’s people be stomped on?”

¹⁴ One of the holy angels said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the temple will be made holy again.”

Gabriel Tells Daniel What His Vision Means

¹⁵ I was having the vision. And I was trying to understand it. Then I saw someone who looked like a man. ¹⁶ I heard a voice from the Ulai Canal. It called out, “Gabriel, tell Daniel what his vision means.”

¹⁷ Gabriel came close to where I was standing. I was terrified and fell down flat with my face toward the ground. Here is what he said to me. “Son of man, I want you to understand the vision. It’s about the time of the end.”

¹⁸ While he was speaking to me, I was sound asleep. I lay with my face on the ground. Then he touched me. He raised me to my feet.

¹⁹ He said, “I am going to tell you what will happen later. It will take place when God is angry. The vision is about the appointed time of the end. ²⁰ You saw a ram that had two horns. It stands for the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ The goat stands for the king of Greece. The large horn between its eyes is the first king. ²² Four horns took the horn’s place when it was broken off. They stand for four kingdoms that will come from his nation. But those kingdoms will not be as powerful as his.

²³ “Toward the end of their rule, those who refuse to obey God will become completely evil. Then another king will appear. He will have a scary-looking face. He will be a master at making clever plans. ²⁴ He will become very strong. But he will not get that way by his own power. People will be amazed at the way he destroys everything. He will be successful no matter what he does. He will destroy mighty people. Those mighty people are God’s holy people. ²⁵ He will tell lies in order to succeed. He will think he is more important than anyone else. When people feel safe, he will destroy many of them. He will stand up against the greatest Prince of all. Then he will be destroyed. But he will not be killed by human beings.

²⁶ “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given to you is true. But seal up the vision. It is about a time far off.”

²⁷ I, Daniel, was worn out. I was too tired to get up for several days. Then I got up and returned to my work for the king. The vision bewildered me. I couldn’t understand it.