M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
20 And Ben-Hadad king of Syria assembled all his host; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-Hadad:
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, the goodliest, are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad saying: I sent to thee indeed, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
6 but to-morrow about this time I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thy sight, they shall put in their hand and take away.
7 And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this [man] seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not, nor consent.
9 And he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.
10 And Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me!
11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him that girdeth on boast himself as he that putteth off!
12 And it came to pass when he heard this word, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the tents, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves. And they set themselves against the city.
13 And behold, a prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith Jehovah: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou.
15 And he numbered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.
16 And they went out at noon; and Ben-Hadad drank himself drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.
17 And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-Hadad sent out, and they told him saying, There are men come out of Samaria.
18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
19 And these servants of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army that followed them.
20 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 And the prophet drew near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen thyself, and understand, and see what thou shalt do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the mountains; therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them on the plateau, shall we not be stronger than they?
24 And do this: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their stead;
25 and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them on the plateau: shall we not be stronger than they? And he hearkened to their voice, and did so.
26 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, that Ben-Hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered and victualled, and they went against them; and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the land.
28 And the man of God drew near, and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus saith Jehovah: Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the mountains, but he is not a god of the valleys, I will give all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
29 And they encamped one over against the other seven days; and it came to pass that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel smote of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men of them that were left. And Ben-Hadad fled, and came into the city, [from] chamber to chamber.
31 And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will save thy life.
32 And they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-Hadad says, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
33 And the men took it as a good omen, and hastened to catch what came from him, and they said, Thy brother Ben-Hadad. … And he said, Go, bring him. And Ben-Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
34 And [Ben-Hadad] said to him, The cities that my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thyself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I [said Ahab] will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him.
36 Then said he to him, Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, behold, when thou departest from me, the lion will slay thee. And when he had departed from him, the lion found him and slew him.
37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him violently, and wounded [him].
38 And the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with a sash over his eyes.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me and said, Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, So [is] thy judgment: thyself hast decided [it].
41 Then he hastily took the sash away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him, that he was of the prophets.
42 And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man that I had devoted to destruction, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
43 And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and came to Samaria.
3 Wherefore, being no longer able to refrain ourselves, we thought good to be left alone in Athens,
2 and sent Timotheus, our brother and fellow-workman under God in the glad tidings of Christ, to confirm you and encourage [you] concerning your faith,
3 that no one might be moved by these afflictions. (For yourselves know that we are set for this;
4 for also, when we were with you, we told you beforehand we are about to be in tribulation, even as also it came to pass, and ye know.)
5 For this reason *I* also, no longer able to refrain myself, sent to know your faith, lest perhaps the tempter had tempted you and our labour should be come to nothing.
6 But Timotheus having just come to us from you, and brought to us the glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have always good remembrance of us, desiring much to see us, even as we also you;
7 for this reason we have been comforted in you, brethren, in all our distress and tribulation, through your faith,
8 because now we live if *ye* stand firm in [the] Lord.
9 For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy wherewith we rejoice on account of you before our God,
10 night and day beseeching exceedingly to the end that we may see your face, and perfect what is lacking in your faith?
11 But our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.
12 But you, may the Lord make to exceed and abound in love toward one another, and toward all, even as we also towards you,
13 in order to the confirming of your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
2 And the king commanded to call the scribes, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to shew the king his dreams; and they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
4 And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live for ever! tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The command is gone forth from me: If ye do not make known unto me the dream, and its interpretation, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream and its interpretation, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour; therefore shew me the dream and its interpretation.
7 They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
8 The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would gain time, because ye see the word is gone forth from me;
9 but if ye do not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me its interpretation.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter; therefore there is no king, however great and powerful, that hath asked such a thing of any scribe, or magician, or Chaldean.
11 For the thing that the king demandeth is extraordinary, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this cause the king was irritated and very wroth, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to slay them.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and prudence to Arioch the chief of the king's bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15 he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so rigorous from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 And Daniel went in, and requested of the king that he would give him time, that he might shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions;
18 that they would desire mercies of the God of the heavens concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of the heavens.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; For wisdom and might are his.
21 And it is he that changeth times and seasons; He deposeth kings, and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom to the wise, And knowledge to them that know understanding.
22 It is he that revealeth the deep and secret things; He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and I praise thee, O God of my fathers, Who hast given me wisdom and might, And hast made known unto me already what we desired of thee; For thou hast made known unto us the king's matter.
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him: I have found a man of the sons of the captivity of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said unto Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, The secret that the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the magicians, the scribes, the astrologers, shew unto the king;
28 but there is a God in the heavens, who revealeth secrets, and maketh known to king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be at the end of days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these:
29 —as for thee, O king, thy thoughts arose upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 And as for me, this secret is revealed to me, not by [any] wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation should be made known to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold, a great image. This image was mighty and its brightness excellent; it stood before thee, and its appearance was terrible.
32 This image's head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands; and it smote the image upon its feet of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken in pieces together, and they became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings, unto whom the God of the heavens hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
38 and wheresoever the children of men, the beasts of the field, and the fowl of the heavens dwell, he hath given them into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all: thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; then another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth everything, and as iron that breaketh all these, so shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And [as] the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of the heavens set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the sovereignty thereof shall not be left to another people: it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, but itself shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold,—the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and the interpretation of it sure.
46 Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
47 The king answered Daniel and said, Of a truth it is that your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, because thou wast able to reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel great, 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 And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon. And Daniel was in the gate of the king.
106 Hallelujah! Give ye thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah? [who] can shew forth all his praise?
3 Blessed are they that keep justice, [and] he that doeth righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Jehovah, with [thy] favour toward thy people; visit me with thy salvation:
5 That I may see the prosperity of thy chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the joy of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt considered not thy wondrous works; they remembered not the multitude of thy loving-kindnesses; but they rebelled at the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his might.
9 And he rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; and he led them through the deeps as through a wilderness.
10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated [them], and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their oppressors: there was not one of them left.
12 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.
13 They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel:
14 And they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
15 Then he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
16 And they envied Moses in the camp, [and] Aaron, the saint of Jehovah.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram;
18 And fire was kindled in their company; a flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb, and did homage to a molten image;
20 And they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
21 They forgot God their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, terrible things by the Red Sea.
23 And he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses, his chosen, stood before him in the breach, to turn away his fury, lest he should destroy [them].
24 And they despised the pleasant land; they believed not his word,
25 But murmured in their tents: they hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah.
26 And he lifted up his hand to them, that he would make them fall in the wilderness;
27 And that he would make their seed fall among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
28 And they joined themselves unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead;
29 And they provoked [him] to anger with their doings; and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment, and the plague was stayed;
31 And that was reckoned unto him for righteousness, from generation to generation, for evermore.
32 And they moved him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account;
33 For they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples, as Jehovah commanded them;
35 But they mingled with the nations, and learned their works;
36 And they served their idols; and they were a snare unto them:
37 And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
38 And shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
39 And they were defiled with their works, and went a-whoring in their doings.
40 Then was the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he abhorred his inheritance;
41 And he gave them into the hand of the nations; and they that hated them ruled over them:
42 And their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Often did he deliver them; but as for them they provoked [him] by their counsel, and they were brought low by their iniquity.
44 But he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry;
45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses;
46 And he caused them to find compassion of all those that had carried them captives.
47 Save us, Jehovah our God, and gather us from among the nations, to give thanks unto thy holy name, [and] to triumph in thy praise.
48 Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And let all the people say, Amen! Hallelujah!
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