M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The War between Moab and Israel

3 Ahab’s son Jehoram became the king of Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He ruled for twelve years. ² Jehoram did what was bad in the eyes of the Lord, but not like his father and mother. For he put away the object of Baal which his father had made. ³ But he held on to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. He did not leave them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep. He had to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams each year. ⁵ But when Ahab died, the king of Moab turned against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and called all Israel together. ⁷ Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has turned against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And Jehoshaphat said, “I will go. I am as you are. My people are as your people. My horses are as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way should we go?” And he answered, “By the way of the desert of Edom.” ⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They traveled around for seven days, but there was no water for the army or the cattle that followed them. ¹⁰ The king of Israel said, “It is bad! For the Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a man who speaks for God here? Is there no one we can ask to learn what the Lord would have us do?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here. He poured water on the hands of Elijah.” ¹² And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the men who tell what will happen in the future that your father and mother have gone to.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No. It is the Lord Who has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “As the Lord of all lives, before Whom I stand, if I did not care for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you or see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a man who plays music.” And when the man played music, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha. ¹⁶ He said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says, ‘You will not see wind or rain. But that valley will be filled with water so that you and your cattle and your animals will drink.’ ¹⁸ This is only a small thing in the eyes of the Lord. He will give you the Moabites also. ¹⁹ Then you will destroy every strong city and cut down every good tree. You will close all the wells of water, and destroy every good piece of land with stones.” ²⁰ The next morning, about the time when the gift is given on the altar, water came by the way of Edom. The country was filled with water. ²¹ Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. All who were able to wear battle-clothes, young and old, were called together. And they stood at the side of the land of Moab. ²² They got up early in the morning. The sun was shining on the water. And the Moabites saw that the water beside them was as red as blood. ²³ They said, “This is blood. For sure the kings have fought and killed one another. So now, Moab, let us take what is left!” ²⁴ But when they came to the tents of Israel, the Israelites came and fought against the Moabites. The Moabites ran from them. And Israel went on into the land, killing the Moabites. ²⁵ So they destroyed the cities. Each man threw a stone on every piece of good land until it was covered. They closed all the wells of water and cut down all the good trees. Only the stones of Kir-hareseth were left standing. But the stone-throwers went around it and fought against it. ²⁶ The king of Moab saw that the battle was too hard for him. So he took with him 700 men who used the sword, to break through to the king of Edom. But they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his oldest son who was to rule in his place, and gave him as a burnt gift on the wall. And many became very angry toward Israel. They left him and returned to their own land.

Christian Brothers, Pray for Us

3 My last words to you, Christian brothers, are that you pray for us. Pray that the Word of the Lord will go out over all the land and prove its power just as it did with you. ² Pray that we will be kept from sinful men, because not all men are Christians. ³ But the Lord is faithful. He will give you strength and keep you safe from the devil. ⁴ We have faith in the Lord for you. We believe you are doing and will keep on doing the things we told you. ⁵ May the Lord lead your hearts into the love of God. May He help you as you wait for Christ.

⁶ Now this is what we tell you to do, Christian brothers. In the name of the Lord Jesus, keep away from any Christian who is lazy and who does not do what we taught you. ⁷ You know you should follow the way of life we lived when we were with you. We worked hard while we were there. ⁸ We did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it. We worked hard night and day so none of you would have to give us anything. ⁹ We could have asked you to give us food. But we did not so that you might follow our way of living. ¹⁰ When we were with you, we told you that if a man does not work, he should not eat. ¹¹ We hear that some are not working. But they are spending their time trying to see what others are doing. ¹² Our words to such people are that they should be quiet and go to work. They should eat their own food. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we say this. ¹³ But you, Christian brothers, do not get tired of doing good. ¹⁴ If anyone does not want to listen to what we say in this letter, remember who he is and stay away from him. In that way, he will be put to shame. ¹⁵ Do not think of him as one who hates you. But talk to him as a Christian brother.

¹⁶ May the Lord of peace give you His peace at all times. The Lord be with you all. ¹⁷ I, Paul, write this last part with my own hand. It is the way I finish all my letters. ¹⁸ May all of you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Daniel’s Special Dream of the Four Animals

7 In the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylon, Daniel had a special dream in his mind as he lay on his bed. And he wrote the dream down, telling what he saw. ² Daniel said, “In my dream at night I looked and saw the four winds of heaven causing waves in the great sea. ³ And four large animals were coming up from the sea, different from one another. ⁴ The first was like a lion and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were pulled off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man. A man’s heart was given to it also. ⁵ Then I saw a second animal, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. And it was told, ‘Get up, and eat much meat!’ ⁶ Then I looked and saw another animal, which looked like a leopard. It had four wings of a bird on its back, and four heads. And it was given the power to rule. ⁷ After this I looked in my dream in the night and saw a fourth animal. It filled me with a very great fear. It was very strong and it had large, iron teeth. It ate and crushed, and whatever was left, it crushed with its feet. It was different from all the animals that were before it, and it had ten horns. ⁸ While I was thinking about the horns, I saw another horn, a little one, come up among them. And three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots in front of it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth which spoke in pride.

The Special Dream of the One Who Has Always Lived

⁹ “As I kept looking, thrones were set up and the One Who has lived forever took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne and its wheels were a burning fire. ¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him. Many thousands were serving Him, and many millions were standing before Him. The Judge was seated, and The Books were opened. ¹¹ I kept looking because of the sound of the proud words which the horn was speaking. I watched until the fourth animal was killed, and its body was destroyed and thrown into the burning fire. ¹² The other three animals had their power taken away, but they were allowed to live for a time.

¹³ “I kept looking in the night dream and saw One like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the One Who has lived forever, and was brought before Him. ¹⁴ And He was given power and shining-greatness, and was made King, so that all the people of every nation and language would serve Him. His rule lasts forever. It will never pass away. And His nation will never be destroyed.

Daniel Tells the Meaning of His Dream

¹⁵ “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me. The things I saw in my dream made me afraid. ¹⁶ I went to one of those who were standing near and asked him the true meaning of all this. So he told me what these things meant. ¹⁷ ‘These four large animals are four kings who will rise from the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the nation and keep it forever and ever.’ ¹⁹ Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth animal which was different from all the others. It filled me with fear, with its iron teeth and sharp nails of brass. It ate and crushed, and whatever was left it crushed with its feet. ²⁰ I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head, and the other horn which came up. I wanted to know about the three horns that fell in front of this larger horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke proud words. ²¹ As I watched, this horn was fighting a war against the holy ones and winning the battle, ²² until the One came Who has lived forever. This One judged in favor of the holy ones of the Most High. And the time came when the holy ones took the nation for their own.

²³ “He told me, ‘The fourth animal will be a fourth nation on the earth. It will be different from all the other nations. It will destroy the whole earth. And it will crush under foot whatever is left. ²⁴ The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this nation. And another will come after them who will be different from the ones before. He will put three kings under his power. ²⁵ He will speak against the Most High and make it hard for His holy ones. And he will try to make changes in times and in law. The holy ones will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time (three and a half years). ²⁶ But the Judge will decide against him. And his ruling power will be taken away and destroyed forever. ²⁷ Then the ruling power and greatness of all the nations under the whole heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His nation will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’ ²⁸ This is the end of the special dream. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts filled me with fear and my face turned white. But I kept everything to myself.”

God Takes Israel from Egypt

114 Israel came out of Egypt. The house of Jacob came from a people who spoke a strange language. ² Then Judah became His holy place, and Israel became the place of His rule.

³ The sea looked and ran away. The Jordan turned back. ⁴ The mountains jumped like sheep, the hills like lambs. ⁵ Why did you try to get away, O sea? Why did you turn back, O Jordan? ⁶ O mountains, why did you jump like sheep? O hills, why did you jump like lambs?

⁷ Shake in fear before the Lord, O earth, before the God of Jacob. ⁸ He changed the rock into a pool of water. He made water flow out of hard rock.

One True God

115 Let honor be given to Your name and not to us, O Lord, not to us. Because You are loving and kind and faithful. ² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God now?” ³ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He wants to do. ⁴ Their gods are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ⁵ They have mouths but they cannot speak. They have eyes but they cannot see. ⁶ They have ears but they cannot hear. They have noses but they cannot smell. ⁷ They have hands but they cannot feel. They have feet but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound come out of their mouths. ⁸ Those who make them and trust them will be like them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹² The Lord has remembered us and will make good come to us. He will make good come to the house of Israel. He will make good come to the house of Aaron. ¹³ He will make good come to those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. ¹⁴ May the Lord make your numbers grow, both you and your children. ¹⁵ May you be given good things by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens belong to the Lord. But He has given the earth to the children of men. ¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord. Neither do those who go down into the quiet place. ¹⁸ But we will give honor and thanks to the Lord, now and forever. Praise the Lord!