M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Syria Fights Samaria
20 Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and war-wagons. And he went up against Samaria in battle. 2 Then he sent men with news to the city of Ahab king of Israel, saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says. 3 ’Your silver and gold are mine. Your most beautiful wives and children are mine also.’” 4 The king of Israel answered, “It is as you say, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.” 5 Then the men returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says. ‘I sent word to you saying, “You must give me your silver and gold and your wives and children.” 6 But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time. They will look through your house and the houses of your servants. And they will take away all that is of worth to you.’”
7 Then the king of Israel called all the leaders of the land. He said to them, “Look and see how this man is looking for trouble. He sent to me for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold. And I did not say no to him.” 8 Then all the leaders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or agree.” 9 So Ahab said to Benhadad’s men, “Tell my lord the king, ‘I will do all that you first asked of your servant, but this I cannot do.’” The men left and returned again with news for him. 10 Ben-hadad sent word to him saying, “May the gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough to fill the hands of all the people who follow me.” 11 The king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not him who dresses in battle-clothes talk with pride like him who takes them off.’” 12 When Ben-hadad heard these words, he was drinking with the kings in the tents. He said to his servants, “Go to your places.” So they went to their place of battle against the city. 13 Then a man who spoke for God came to Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says. ‘Have you seen all these many people? See, I will give them to you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 14 Ahab said, “By whom?” So he told him, “The Lord says, ‘By the young servants of the leaders of the lands you rule.’” Then Ahab said, “Who will start the battle?” And he answered, “You.” 15 Then Ahab called together the young servants of the leaders of the nations, 232 men. And he called together all the people of Israel, 7,000 men.
16 They went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents with the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17 The young servants of the leaders of the lands went out first. Ben-hadad sent men out to get news, and they told him, “Men have come out from Samaria.” 18 Then he said, “If they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.”
19 So the young servants of the leaders of the lands went out from the city, and the army which followed them. 20 Each one killed his man. The Syrians ran away, and Israel went after them. And Ben-hadad king of Syria got away on a horse with horsemen. 21 The king of Israel went out and destroyed the horses and war-wagons. He killed many of the Syrians. 22 Then the man who spoke for God came to the king of Israel, and said to him, “Go and make yourself strong. Look and see what you have to do. For the first of next year the king of Syria will come to fight against you.”
The Syrians Lose Again
23 Now the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Israel’s gods are gods of the mountains. So they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and for sure we will be stronger than they. 24 And do this. Take each of the kings from his place, and put captains in their places. 25 Gather together an army like the army you lost, horse for horse, and war-wagon for war-wagon. Then we will fight against Israel in the plain. For sure we will be stronger than they.” And Ben-hadad listened to them and did so.
26 When the new year came, Benhadad called together the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 The people of Israel were called together and given what they needed, and went to meet them. The people of Israel gathered in front of them like two little flocks of goats. But the Syrians filled the country. 28 Then a man who spoke for God came to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says. ‘The Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys.” So I will give all these many people to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 29 So they stayed beside each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle was fought. And the people of Israel killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. 30 But the rest ran away into the city of Aphek. And the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. Ben-hadad ran away and came to a room in the city.
31 His servants said to him, “Now see, we have heard that the kings of the family of Israel are kings who show kindness. Let us dress in cloth made from hair and put ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. It might be that he will save your life.” 32 So they dressed in cloth made from hair and put ropes on their heads, and went to the king of Israel. They said to him, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘I beg you, let me live.’” Ahab said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 33 Now the men were watching for something special to happen. They were quick to catch his word, and said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” Then Ahab said, “Go and bring him.” So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab took him up into the war-wagon. 34 Ben-hadad said to him, “I will return to you the cities which my father took from your father. And you will make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” Ahab said, “I will let you go with this agreement.” So he made an agreement with him and let him go.
A Man of God Speaks
35 Now a certain son of the men who spoke for God said to another by the word of the Lord, “Hit me.” But the man would not hit him. 36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he had left him, a lion found him and killed him. 37 Then he found another man and said, “Hit me.” And the man hit him, and hurt him. 38 So the man of God left, and waited for the king by the way. He tied a cloth over his eyes so no one would know him. 39 As the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out to the battle. A soldier turned and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Keep this man. If he is missing for any reason, you will pay for his life with your own. Or else you must pay a man’s weight in silver.’ 40 But while your servant was doing things here and there, the man got away.” The king of Israel said to him, “So you must be punished. You yourself have decided it.” 41 In a hurry the man took the cloth away from his eyes. And the king of Israel saw that he was one of the men who speak for God. 42 The man said to him, “This is what the Lord says. ‘You have let the man go whom I had given to be destroyed. So you will pay for his life with your own. And your people will pay for his people.’” 43 So the king of Israel went home sad and angry, and came to Samaria.
3 When we could wait no longer, we decided it was best to stay in the city of Athens alone. 2 And we sent Timothy to you. He works with us for God, teaching the Good News of Christ. We sent him to give strength and comfort to your faith. 3 We do not want anyone to give up because of troubles. You know that we can expect troubles. 4 Even when we were with you, we told you that much trouble would come to us. It has come as you can see. 5 For this reason, I could wait no longer. I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid the devil had tempted you. Then our work with you would be wasted.
6 But Timothy has come to us from you. He brought good news about your faith and love. It is good to know that you think well of us and that you would like to see us. We would like to see you also. 7 Christian brothers, word about your faith has made us happy even while we are suffering and are in much trouble. 8 It is life to us to know that your faith in the Lord is strong. 9 How can we give God enough thanks for you for all the joy you give us? 10 We keep on praying night and day that we may see you again. We want to help your faith to be complete. 11 May our God and Father Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ take us on our way to you. 12 May the Lord make you grow in love for each other and for everyone. We have this kind of love for you. 13 May our God and Father make your hearts strong and without blame. May your hearts be without sin in God’s sight when our Lord Jesus comes again with all those who belong to Him.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
2 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. His spirit was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 Then the king called for the wonder-workers, those who used secret ways, those who learned from stars, to tell the king what he had dreamed. So they came in and stood in front of the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream that troubles me, and I want to know what the dream means.”
4 Then those who learn from stars said to the king in the Aramaic language, “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will tell you what it means.” 5 The king answered, saying, “My word is sure. If you do not tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn apart and your houses will be laid waste. 6 But if you tell me the dream and what it means, I will give you gifts and riches and great honor. So tell me the dream and what it means.” 7 They answered the king a second time, saying, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will tell you what it means.” 8 The king said, “I am sure that you are trying to get more time, because you see that my word is sure. 9 You know that if you do not tell me what I dreamed, there is only one penalty for you. You have agreed among yourselves to keep telling me lies until things change. So tell me the dream. Then I will know that you can tell me what it means.” 10 Those who learn from stars answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can do this for the king. For no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any wonder-worker or one who learns from stars. 11 What the king asks is too hard. No one can do it for you except the gods, who do not live among men.” 12 Because of this the king became very angry and said that all the wise men of Babylon must be destroyed. 13 So the law was sent out that the wise men must be killed. They looked for Daniel and his friends, to kill them also.
God Shows Daniel the Meaning of the Dream
14 Then Daniel spoke with wisdom and understanding to Arioch, the captain of the soldiers who watched over the king, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the king’s law so hard?” Then Arioch told him what had happened. 16 So Daniel went in and asked the king for time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, what had happened. 18 He told them to ask for loving-pity from the God of heaven about this secret, so that Daniel and his friends might not be killed with the other wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the secret was made known to Daniel in a special dream during the night. He gave honor and thanks to the God of heaven. 20 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be honored forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 He changes the times and the years. He takes kings away, and puts kings in power. He gives wisdom to wise men and much learning to men of understanding. 22 He makes known secret and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness. Light is with Him. 23 I give thanks and praise to You, O God of my fathers. For You have given me wisdom and power. Even now You have made known what we asked of You. You have made the king’s dream known to us.”
Daniel Tells the Meaning to the King
24 So Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had told to kill the wise men of Babylon. He went and said to him, “Do not kill the wise men of Babylon! Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”
25 Then Arioch brought Daniel to the king in a hurry, and said to him, “I have found a man among those brought out of Judah who can tell the king the meaning of his dream!” 26 The king said to Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me the dream I had, and what it means?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, wonder-workers, or men who use secret ways can make this dream known to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who makes secrets known. And He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. This was the special dream you had while you were on your bed. 29 O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future. And He Who makes secrets known has let you know what will happen. 30 But this secret has not been made known to me because I am wiser than any other living man. It was made known to me so that I can make it known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
31 “O king, you were looking and saw a great object. The object was large and very bright, and it was standing in front of you. It filled you with fear and wonder as you looked at it. 32 The object’s head was made of fine gold. Its breast and arms were made of silver. Its stomach and thighs were made of brass. 33 Its legs were made of iron, and its feet were part iron and part clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It fell and hit the large object on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like dust on the grain-floor in the summer. The wind carried the dust away so nothing was to be found. But the stone that hit the large object became a large mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you the nation, the power, the strength, and the honor. 38 In every place where people live, or the animals of the field, or the birds of the air, He has given them to you and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will be another nation that is not as great as yours. A third nation of brass will come, which will rule over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a fourth nation, as strong as iron. Iron crushes and breaks all things. So, like iron breaks things to pieces, this nation will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw the feet and toes made of part clay and part iron, it will be a divided nation. But it will have some of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were made of part iron and part clay, so some of the nation will be strong and part of it will be weak. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, they will try to join with one another. But they will not stay together any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a nation which will never be destroyed. And it will never be taken by another people. It will crush and put an end to all these nations, but it will last forever. 45 You saw how a stone was cut out of the mountain by no human hands, and how it crushed the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true. And I have given you its true meaning.”
Daniel Becomes Ruler of Babylon
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and gave honor to Daniel. He had a gift and special perfume brought to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “For sure your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and He makes hidden things known. For you have been able to make known this secret.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel much power and gave him many great gifts. He made him ruler over the whole land of Babylon and the head of all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel asked the king to put Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego as leaders over the land of Babylon, while Daniel stayed near the king.
The Lord Is Good to His People
106 Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. 2 Who can put into words the great works of the Lord? Who can make known all His praise? 3 Happy are those who are faithful in being fair and who always do what is right and good!
4 O Lord, remember me when You show favor to Your people. Visit me also when You save them. 5 So I may share in the well-being of Your chosen ones. So I may share in the joy of Your nation, and be proud of Your people.
6 We have sinned like our fathers. We have done wrong. We have been sinful in our actions. 7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your powerful works. They did not remember how many times You showed Your loving-kindness. But they turned against You by the sea, the Red Sea. 8 Yet He saved them because of the honor of His name, and to make His great power known. 9 So He spoke sharp words to the Red Sea and it dried up. And He led them through the sea as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of those who hated them. He set them free from the hand of those who went against them. 11 And the waters covered those who hated them. Not one of them was left. 12 Then they believed His promises. They sang His praise.
13 But they soon forgot His works. They did not wait to hear what He wanted them to do. 14 They wanted many things in the desert, and they tempted God there. 15 So He gave them what they wanted, but He allowed their souls to become weak because of it.
16 They were jealous of Moses in the place where they set up their tents. And they were jealous of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. 17 So the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan. It closed over the group of Abiram. 18 And a fire came among their followers. It burned up the sinful people.
19 They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a god of gold. 20 They traded their shining-greatness for something that looked like a bull that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God Who saved them, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22 powerful works in the land of Ham, and works that brought fear by the Red Sea. 23 So He said that He would destroy them. But Moses, His chosen one, stood in the way to keep His anger from destroying them. 24 Then they hated the good land. They did not believe in His Word. 25 But they complained in their tents. They did not listen to the voice of the Lord. 26 So He swore to them that He would let them die in the desert. 27 And He would spread out their children among the nations and divide them over all the earth.
28 They joined themselves to Baal of Peor and ate gifts given to the dead. 29 They made the Lord angry by their actions and a sickness broke out among them. 30 Then Phinehas stood up and came between them, and the sickness was stopped. 31 And this made him right with God to all people forever.
32 They also made the Lord angry at the waters of Meribah. And trouble came to Moses because of them. 33 He spoke from his lips without thinking because they went against the Spirit of God.
34 They did not destroy the people as the Lord told them to do. 35 But they mixed with the nations and learned their ways. 36 They served their gods, which became a trap to them. 37 They even gave their sons and daughters as gifts on an altar to the demons. 38 They poured out the blood of those who were not guilty, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they gave on an altar to the gods of Canaan. And the land was poisoned with blood. 39 They made themselves unclean by what they did. They were not true to God in what they did.
40 So the Lord was angry with His people. He hated His people. 41 So He handed them over to the nations. And those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Those who hated them held a strong power over them. And they were made to obey them. 43 God set them free many times. But they always turned against Him and went deeper into sin.
44 But He looked upon their trouble when He heard their cry. 45 He remembered His agreement because of them, and took pity on them by the greatness of His loving-kindness. 46 Those who held them also saw how God took pity on them.
47 O Lord our God, save us! Gather us from among the nations. And we will give thanks to Your holy name and find honor in Your praise. 48 Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever. Let all the people say, “Let it be so!” Praise the Lord!
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.