M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria
20 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Aram gathered his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots, and he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it. 2 He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: 3 Your silver and gold is mine, as are your most attractive wives and children.”
4 The king of Israel answered, “My lord, O king, just as you have said, I and all that I own are yours.”
5 The messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: Although I have said that you must give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children, 6 instead I will send my servants tomorrow about this time, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants, and whatever is precious to you, they will put it in their hands and take it away.”
7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Please notice how this man is looking for trouble, for he has demanded I give him my wives and children and my silver and gold, and I have not denied his request.”
8 All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen to him or consent to his demands.”
9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Tell my lord the king: I will comply with the first request of your servant, but this thing I will not do.” And the messengers departed and brought him word again.
10 Then Ben-Hadad sent messengers to him and said, “The gods do to me and then some if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
11 The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: Let not he who puts on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.”
12 When Ben-Hadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the pavilions, he said to his servants, “Station yourselves!” And they stationed themselves against the city.
Ahab Defeats Ben-Hadad
13 Then a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Have you seen this great multitude? See, I will deliver it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
14 Ahab asked, “By whom?”
And he said, “Thus says the Lord: By the young leaders of the provinces.”
Then he said, “Who shall order the battle?”
And he answered, “You.”
15 Then he counted the young leaders of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two, and after them he counted all the people, all the children of Israel, and had seven thousand. 16 They went out at noon. But Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings who helped him were getting drunk in the pavilions. 17 The young leaders of the provinces went out first.
Ben-Hadad sent out scouts, and they told him, “Men from Samaria have come out.”
18 He said, “If they have come out peacefully, take them alive, and if they have come out for battle, take them alive.”
19 So these young leaders of the provinces came out of the city, followed by the army. 20 Each one killed his man, and the Arameans fled with Israel pursuing them, but Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse with the horsemen. 21 The king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots and killed a great number of Arameans.
22 The prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Go, strengthen yourself and prepare, and see what you do, for next year the king of Aram will come up against you.”
23 The servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were stronger than us, but if we fight against them in the plain, we will surely be stronger than they. 24 Do this: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put commanders in their places, 25 and assemble an army like the army that you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot, and we will fight them in the plain and will surely be stronger than they.” And he listened to their advice and followed it.
26 The next year Ben-Hadad assembled the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 The children of Israel were assembled and were all present, and they went against them, and the children of Israel camped in front of them like two little flocks of kids, while the Arameans filled the country.
28 A man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord: Because the Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,’ I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
29 They camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day, the battle was joined. The children of Israel killed a hundred thousand Aramean footmen in one day. 30 But the rest fled into the city of Aphek, where a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And Ben-Hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber.
31 His servants said to him, “We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ”
And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother!”
33 Now the men were diligently looking for a positive sign and quickly took hold of it, and they said, “Your brother Ben-Hadad!”
Then he said, “Go. You bring him.” Then Ben-Hadad came to him and got into the chariot.
34 Ben-Hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities which my father took from your father, and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.”
Then Ahab said, “I will send you away with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.
A Prophet Condemns Ahab
35 Speaking in the word of the Lord, a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him.
36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found and killed him.
37 Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him so that he was wounded. 38 So the prophet departed and waited by the road for the king and disguised himself with ashes on his face. 39 As the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, ‘Keep this man, and if by any means he goes missing, then your life shall be given for his life, or else you shall pay a talent[a] of silver.’ 40 As your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.”
And the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you have decided it yourself.”
41 He quickly took the ashes away from his face, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 He said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand a man whom I had appointed to utter destruction, you shall pay for his life with your life and his people with your people.’ ” 43 The king of Israel went to his house in Samaria angry and depressed.
3 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish and comfort you with regard to your faith, 3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this. 4 Indeed, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it came to pass, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to inquire about your faith, lest by some means the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor might have been in vain.
6 But just now Timothy has come from you to us and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good memories of us, desiring greatly to see us, as we also desire to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, during all our afflictions and distress, we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand strong in the Lord. 9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes before our God, 10 night and day praying earnestly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all men, even as we do for you. 13 To this end may He establish your hearts to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians and the astrologers and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic,[a] “O king, live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will tell the interpretation.”
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: If you will not make known to me the dream with its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
7 They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will tell the interpretation.”
8 The king answered and said, “I know of certainty that you are bargaining for time, because you see that the command from me is firm: 9 If you will not make known to me the dream, there is but one decree for you. For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the circumstance is changed. Therefore tell me the dream so that I know that you can tell me its interpretation.”
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, “There is not a man on the earth who can tell the king’s matter, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician or astrologer or Chaldean. 11 Also, it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no one else who can tell it before the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 Therefore the decree went out that the wise men should be slain. And they sought for Daniel and his companions to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with discretion and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in and desired of the king that he would give him time in order that he could tell the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 so that they might ask for compassion from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
for wisdom and might are His.
21 It is He who changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and sets up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who know understanding.
22 He reveals the deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with Him.
23 I thank and praise You, O God of my fathers;
for You have given me wisdom and might,
and have made known to me now what we asked of You,
for You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Daniel Interprets the Dream
24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.”
25 Then in haste Arioch brought Daniel before the king and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah who can make known to the king the interpretation.”
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?”
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot tell the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these:
29 “As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed about what would come to pass hereafter, and He who reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man, but for the purpose of making known the interpretation to the king, and that you might understand the thoughts of your heart.
31 “You, O king, were watching, and there was a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you. And its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched until a stone was cut out without hands which struck the image upon its feet, which were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 Wherever the sons of men dwell, or the animals of the field, or the fowl of the heavens, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom inferior to you shall arise, and a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, it shall crush and shatter all these. 41 As you saw the feet and toes, partly of potters’ clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it some of the strength of the iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. 43 Whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave to one another, even as iron does not mix with clay.
44 “In the days of these kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
The Promotion of Daniel
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and did homage to Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and sweet incense to him. 47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Truly your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
48 Then the king advanced Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat at the court of the king.
Psalm 106(A)
1 Praise the Lord!
Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can recount the mighty acts of the Lord
or declare all His praise?
3 Blessed are those who keep justice
and who do righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when You give favor to Your people;
visit me with Your deliverance,
5 that I may see the goodness over Your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
that I may glory with Your inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers did not consider
Your wonders in Egypt;
they did not remember the greatness of Your mercy,
but rebelled against Him at the sea, by the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
that He might make His mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up,
so He led them through the depths as through the wilderness.
10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them
and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their enemies;
there was not one of them left.
12 Then they believed His words;
they sang His praise.
13 But they soon forgot His works;
they did not wait for His counsel,
14 but they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness
and tested God in the desert.
15 He gave them their request,
but He sent a wasting disease on them.
16 They envied in the camp Moses
and Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan
and engulfed those led by Abiram.
18 A fire broke out among their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf at Horeb,
and worshipped the molded image.
20 Thus they changed the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Deliverer,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and marvelous deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
had not Moses, His chosen one,
stood before Him to intercede,
to turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe His promise,
25 but they grumbled in their tents,
and did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He lifted up His hand against them
and swore to overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 and to overthrow their offspring among the nations,
and to scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves to Baal of Peor
and ate the sacrifices given for the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their acts,
and a plague broke out upon them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
and so the plague ceased.
31 That was counted unto him for righteousness
unto all generations forever.
32 They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah,
so that Moses suffered because of them,
33 because they provoked his temper,
so that he spoke impulsively with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the nations
as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they mixed among the nations
and learned their deeds;
36 they served their idols,
which were a snare to them.
37 Yes, they sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons,
38 and poured out innocent blood,
even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled by their acts
and acted like whores with these actions.
40 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
and He abhorred His own inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
and Israel was brought into subjection under their powerful hand.
43 Many times He delivered them,
but they were rebellious against Him with their counsel,
and were afflicted for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, He regarded their affliction,
when He heard their cry:
45 and He remembered on their behalf His covenant
and relented according to the greatness of His mercies.
46 He made them pitied
among all those who held them captive.
47 Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
to give thanks unto Your holy name
and to boast in Your praise.
48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting,
and let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.