M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Elijah Is Taken Up to Heaven

2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a wind-storm, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, I ask you. For the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then the sons of the men who spoke for God at Bethel came out to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take Elijah from you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know. Say no more.” ⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, I ask you to stay here. For the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ The sons of the men who spoke for God at Jericho came to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take Elijah from you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know. Say no more.” ⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “I ask you to stay here. For the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now fifty sons of the men who tell what will happen in the future went and stood on the other side of the Jordan River a long way off from the two of them who were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah took his coat and rolled it up and hit the water. And the water divided to one side and to the other, so the two of them crossed the Jordan on dry ground. ⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “I ask you, let twice the share of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be given to you. But if not, it will not be so.” ¹¹ As they went on and talked, a war-wagon of fire and horses of fire came between them. And Elijah went up by a wind-storm to heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the war-wagon of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. And he returned and stood by the side of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took Elijah’s coat that fell from him, and hit the water and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it was divided to one side and to the other, and Elisha crossed the Jordan.

¹⁵ The sons of the men who tell what will happen in the future at Jericho saw him. And they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground in front of him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Now see, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Let them go and look for your teacher. It might be that the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and put him down on some mountain or into some valley.” And Elisha said, “Do not send them.” ¹⁷ But they talked to him until he was ashamed, and he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men to look for Elijah. But after three days they did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to Elisha while he was staying at Jericho. And he said to them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not go’?”

Powerful Works of Elisha

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “See, it is pleasing to live in this city, as my lord sees. But the water is bad. And the land does not bring fruit.” ²⁰ Elisha said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the well of water and threw salt into it, and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have made this water pure. It will not cause death or loss of fruit any more.’” ²² So the water has been pure to this day, just as Elisha said.

²³ Then he left there and went to Bethel. On the way, some young boys came out from the city and made fun of him. They said to him, “Go up, you man with no hair! Go up, you man with no hair!” ²⁴ He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came from among the trees and tore up forty-two of the boys. ²⁵ Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel, then returned to Samaria.

Some People Will Believe a Lie

2 Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. We will be gathered together to meet Him. But we ask you, Christian brothers, ² do not be troubled in mind or worried by the talk you hear. Some say that the Lord has already come. People may say that I wrote this in a letter or that a spirit told them. ³ Do not let anyone fool you. For the Lord will not come again until many people turn away from God. Then the leader of those who break the law will come. He is the man of sin. ⁴ He works against and puts himself above every kind of god that is worshiped. He will take his seat in the house of God and say that he himself is God. ⁵ Do you not remember that while I was with you, I told you this? ⁶ You know the power that is keeping the man of sin back now. The man of sin will come only when his time is ready. ⁷ For the secret power of breaking the law is already at work in the world. But that secret power can only do so much until the One Who keeps back the man of sin is taken out of the way. ⁸ Then this man of sin will come. The Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of His mouth. The coming of Christ will put an end to him. ⁹ Satan will use this man of sin. He will have Satan’s power. He will do strange things and many powerful works that will be false. ¹⁰ Those who are lost in sin will be fooled by the things he can do. They are lost in sin because they did not love the truth that would save them. ¹¹ For this reason, God will allow them to follow false teaching so they will believe a lie. ¹² They will all be guilty as they stand before God because they wanted to do what was wrong.

You Belong to Those Who Believe the Truth

¹³ Christian brothers, the Lord loves you. We always thank God for you. It is because God has chosen you from the beginning to save you from the punishment of sin. He chose to make you holy by the Holy Spirit and to give you faith to believe the truth. ¹⁴ It was by our preaching the Good News that you were chosen. He chose you to share the shining-greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, Christian brothers, keep a strong hold on what we have taught you by what we have said and by what we have written.

¹⁶ Our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father loves us. Through His loving-favor He gives us comfort and hope that lasts forever. ¹⁷ May He give your hearts comfort and strength to say and do every good thing.

Daniel Is Thrown to the Lions

6 It pleased Darius to choose 120 captains to rule over the people. They would rule over the whole nation. ² And three leaders were to rule over them, and Daniel was one. The captains were to answer to them, so that the king might suffer no loss. ³ Then Daniel showed that he could do better work than the other leaders and captains because a special spirit was in him. So the king planned to give him power over the whole nation. ⁴ Then the leaders and captains tried to find a reason to complain against Daniel about his duties over the nation. But they could not find any reason to complain or anything to blame him for, because he was faithful and honest and did not do anything wrong. ⁵ Then these men said, “We will not find anything to say against Daniel unless it has to do with the Law of his God.” ⁶ So these leaders and captains came as a group to the king and said, “King Darius, live forever! ⁷ All the leaders of the nation, the captains, the important men and the rulers have spoken with each other and have agreed that a new law should be made. The king should make a law that must be obeyed, saying that anyone who asks something of any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, must be thrown to the lions. ⁸ O king, make this law now and write your name on it so that it may not be changed. It will be by the law of the Medes and Persians, and cannot be changed.” ⁹ So King Darius made the law and wrote his name on it.

¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the king had written his name on this law, he went into his house where, in his upper room, he had windows open toward Jerusalem. There he got down on his knees three times each day, praying and giving thanks to his God, as he had done before. ¹¹ Then these men came as a group and found Daniel praying and asking favor from his God. ¹² So they went to the king and spoke to him about his law, saying, “Did you not write your name on a law which says that anyone who asks something of any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be thrown to the lions?” The king answered, “This is true. It is by the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.” ¹³ Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the people brought from Judah, does not listen to you, O king. He is not obeying the law that you wrote your name on. He is still asking things of his God three times a day.” ¹⁴ When the king heard this, he was very troubled and tried to think of a way to save Daniel. Even until sunset he was trying to find a way to save him. ¹⁵ Then these men came as a group to the king and said, “Understand, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that any law the king makes cannot be changed.”

¹⁶ So the king had Daniel brought in and thrown into the place where lions were kept. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, Whom you are faithful to serve, save you.” ¹⁷ And a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the hole. The king marked it with his own special ring and with the rings of his important men, so that no one could save Daniel. ¹⁸ Then the king went to his beautiful house and spent the night without food and sleep. And nothing was brought to make him feel better.

Daniel Is Saved from the Lions

¹⁹ The king got up at sunrise and went in a hurry to the place where lions were kept. ²⁰ When he came to the hole in the ground where Daniel was, he called to him with a troubled voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, Whom you always serve, been able to save you from the lions?” ²¹ Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! ²² My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths. They have not hurt me, because He knows that I am not guilty, and because I have done nothing wrong to you, O king.” ²³ Then the king was very pleased and had Daniel taken up out of the hole in the ground. So they took Daniel out of the hole and saw that he had not been hurt at all, because he had trusted in his God. ²⁴ Then the king had those men brought to him who had spoken against Daniel. And they threw them with their wives and children into the hole with the lions. Even before they hit the bottom of the hole, the lions went after them and crushed all their bones.

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to all the people of every nation and language who were living on the earth. He wrote, “May you have much peace! ²⁶ I make a law that all those under my rule are to fear and shake before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God and He lives forever. His nation will never be destroyed and His rule will last forever. ²⁷ He saves and brings men out of danger, and shows His great power in heaven and on earth. And He has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

²⁸ So things went well for Daniel during the rule of Darius and during the rule of Cyrus the Persian.

Good Comes to the Person Who Honors the Lord

112 Praise the Lord! How happy is the man who honors the Lord with fear and finds joy in His Law! ² His children will be powerful in the land. Each family who is right will be happy. ³ Riches and well-being are in his house. And his right-standing with God will last forever. ⁴ Light rises even in darkness for the one who is right. He is kind and has loving-pity and does what is right. ⁵ Good will come to the man who is ready to give much, and fair in what he does. ⁶ He will never be shaken. The man who is right and good will be remembered forever. ⁷ He will not be afraid of bad news. His heart is strong because he trusts in the Lord. ⁸ His heart will not be shaken. He will not be afraid and will watch those lose who fight against him. ⁹ He has given much to the poor. His right-standing with God lasts forever. His horn will be lifted high in honor.

¹⁰ The sinful man will see it and be troubled and angry. He will grind his teeth and waste away. The desire of the sinful will come to nothing.

The Lord Helps the Poor

113 Praise the Lord! Praise Him, O you who serve the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. ² Let the name of the Lord be honored, now and forever. ³ The name of the Lord is to be praised from the time the sun rises to when it sets. ⁴ The Lord is high above all nations. His shining-greatness is above the heavens.

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God? He sits on His throne on high. ⁶ He looks down upon the heavens and the earth. ⁷ He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts those in need from the ashes. ⁸ He makes them sit with rulers, with the rulers of His people. ⁹ He gives a home to the woman who could not give birth and makes her the mother of children. Praise the Lord!