M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
18 It was three years later that the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and tell King Ahab that I will soon send rain again!”
2 So Elijah went to tell him. Meanwhile the famine had become very severe in Samaria.
3-4 The man in charge of Ahab’s household affairs was Obadiah, who was a devoted follower of the Lord. Once when Queen Jezebel had tried to kill all of the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden one hundred of them in two caves—fifty in each—and had fed them with bread and water.
5 That same day, while Elijah was on the way to see King Ahab,[a] the king said to Obadiah, “We must check every stream and brook to see if we can find enough grass to save at least some of my horses and mules. You go one way and I’ll go the other, and we will search the entire land.”
6 So they did, each going alone. 7 Suddenly Obadiah saw Elijah coming toward him! Obadiah recognized him at once and fell to the ground before him.
“Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” he asked.
8 “Yes, it is,” Elijah replied. “Now go and tell the king I am here.”
9 “Oh, sir,” Obadiah protested, “what harm have I done to you that you are sending me to my death? 10 For I swear by God that the king has searched every nation and kingdom on earth from end to end to find you. And each time when he was told ‘Elijah isn’t here,’ King Ahab forced the king of that nation to swear to the truth of his claim. 11 And now you say, ‘Go and tell him Elijah is here’! 12 But as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you away, who knows where, and when Ahab comes and can’t find you, he will kill me; yet I have been a true servant of the Lord all my life. 13 Has no one told you about the time when Queen Jezebel was trying to kill the Lord’s prophets, and I hid a hundred of them in two caves and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go tell the king that Elijah is here’! Sir, if I do that, I’m dead!”
15 But Elijah said, “I swear by the Lord God of the armies of heaven, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come; and Ahab went out to meet him.
17 “So it’s you, is it?—the man who brought this disaster upon Israel!” Ahab exclaimed when he saw him.
18 “You’re talking about yourself,” Elijah answered. “For you and your family have refused to obey the Lord and have worshiped Baal instead. 19 Now bring all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, with all 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
20 So Ahab summoned all the people and the prophets to Mount Carmel.
21 Then Elijah talked to them. “How long are you going to waver between two opinions?” he asked the people. “If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!”
22 Then Elijah spoke again. “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left,” he told them, “but Baal has 450 prophets. 23 Now bring two young bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without putting any fire under the wood; and I will prepare the other young bull and lay it on the wood on the Lord’s altar, with no fire under it. 24 Then pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord; and the god who answers by sending fire to light the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed to this test.
25 Then Elijah turned to the prophets of Baal. “You first,” he said, “for there are many of you; choose one of the bulls and prepare it and call to your god; but don’t put any fire under the wood.”
26 So they prepared one of the young bulls and placed it on the altar; and they called to Baal all morning, shouting, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they began to dance around the altar. 27 About noontime, Elijah began mocking them.
“You’ll have to shout louder than that,” he scoffed, “to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
28 So they shouted louder and, as was their custom, cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no reply, no voice, no answer.
30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here.”
And they all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel,[b] 32 and used the stones to rebuild the Lord’s altar. Then he dug a trench about three feet wide[c] around the altar. 33 He piled wood upon the altar and cut the young bull into pieces and laid the pieces on the wood.
“Fill four barrels with water,” he said, “and pour the water over the carcass and the wood.”
After they had done this he said, 34 “Do it again.” And they did.
“Now, do it once more!” And they did; 35 and the water ran off the altar and filled the trench.
36 At the customary time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant; prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
38 Then, suddenly, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even evaporated all the water in the ditch!
39 And when the people saw it, they fell to their faces upon the ground shouting, “Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!”
40 Then Elijah told them to grab the prophets of Baal. “Don’t let a single one escape,” he commanded.
So they seized them all, and Elijah took them to Kishon Brook and killed them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
42 So Ahab prepared a feast. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and got down on his knees, with his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
He did, but returned to Elijah and told him, “I didn’t see anything.”
Then Elijah told him, “Go again, and again, and again, seven times!”
44 Finally, the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him to get into his chariot and get down the mountain, or he’ll be stopped by the rain!”
45 And sure enough, the sky was soon black with clouds, and a heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm. Ahab left hastily for Jezreel, 46 and the Lord gave special strength to Elijah so that he was able to run ahead of Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of the city!
1 From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To: The church at Thessalonica—to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: May blessing and peace of heart be your rich gifts from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 We always thank God for you and pray for you constantly. 3 We never forget your loving deeds as we talk to our God and Father about you, and your strong faith and steady looking forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 We know that God has chosen you, dear brothers, much beloved of God. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not just meaningless chatter to you; no, you listened with great interest. What we told you produced a powerful effect upon you, for the Holy Spirit gave you great and full assurance that what we said was true. And you know how our very lives were further proof to you of the truth of our message. 6 So you became our followers and the Lord’s; for you received our message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the trials and sorrows it brought you.
7 Then you yourselves became an example to all the other Christians in Greece. 8 And now the Word of the Lord has spread out from you to others everywhere, far beyond your boundaries, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your remarkable faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, 9 for they keep telling us about the wonderful welcome you gave us, and how you turned away from your idols to God so that now the living and true God only is your Master. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the return of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God brought back to life—and he is our only Savior from God’s terrible anger against sin.
48 “Here is the list of the tribes and the territory each is to get. For Dan: From the northwest boundary at the Mediterranean, across to Hethlon, then to Labweh, and then on to Hazar-enan on the border between Damascus to the south and Hamath to the north. Those are the eastern and western limits of the land. 2 Asher’s territory lies south of Dan’s and has the same east and west boundaries. 3 Naphtali’s land lies south of Asher’s, with the same boundary lines on the east and the west. 4 Then comes Manasseh, south of Naphtali, with the same eastern and western boundary lines. 5-7 Next, to the south, is Ephraim, and then Reuben and then Judah, all with the same boundaries on the east and the west.
8 “South of Judah is the land set aside for the Temple. It has the same eastern and western boundaries as the tribal units, with the Temple in the center. 9 This Temple area will be 8-1/3 miles long and 6-2/3 miles wide.
10 “A strip of land measuring 8-1/3 miles long by 3-1/3 miles wide, north to south, surrounds the Temple. 11 It is for the priests, that is, the sons of Zadok who obeyed me and didn’t go into sin when the people of Israel and the rest of their tribe of Levi did. 12 It is their special portion when the land is distributed, the most sacred land of all. Next to it lies the area where the other Levites will live. 13 It will be of the same size and shape as the first. Together they measure 8-1/3 miles by 6-2/3 miles. 14 None of this special land shall ever be sold or traded or used by others, for it belongs to the Lord; it is holy.
15 “The strip of land 8-1/3 miles long by 1-2/3 miles wide, south of the Temple section, is for public use—homes, pasture, and parks, with a city in the center. 16 The city itself is to be 1-1/2 miles square. 17 Open land for pastures shall surround the city for approximately a tenth of a mile.[a] 18 Outside the city, stretching east and west for three miles alongside the holy grounds, is garden area belonging to the city, for public use. 19 It is open to anyone working in the city, no matter where he comes from in Israel.
20 “The entire area—including sacred lands and city lands—is 8-1/3 miles square.
21-22 “The land on both sides of this area, extending clear out to the eastern and western boundaries of Israel, shall belong to the prince. This land, lying between the sections allotted to Judah and Benjamin, is 8-1/3 miles square on each side of the sacred and city lands.
23 “The sections given to the remaining tribes are as follows: Benjamin’s section extends across the entire country of Israel, from its eastern border clear across to the western border. 24 South of Benjamin’s area lies that of Simeon, also extending out to these same eastern and western borders. 25 Next is Issachar, with the same boundaries. 26 Then comes Zebulun, also extending all the way across. 27-28 Then Gad, with the same borders on east and west, while its south border runs from Tamar to the springs at Meribath-kadesh, and then follows the brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) to the Mediterranean. 29 These are the allotments to be made to each tribe,” says the Lord God.
30-31 “Each city gate will be named in honor of one of the tribes of Israel. On the north side, with its 1-1/2-mile wall, there will be three gates, one named for Reuben, one for Judah, and one for Levi. 32 On the east side, with its 1-1/2-mile wall, the gates will be named for Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan. 33 The south wall, also the same length, will have the gates of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun; 34 on the 1-1/2 miles of the west side, they will be named for Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
35 “The entire circumference of the city is six miles. And the name of the city will be ‘The City of God.’”[b]
104 1-2 I bless the Lord: O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and with majesty and light! You stretched out the starry curtain of the heavens, 3 and hollowed out the surface of the earth to form the seas. The clouds are his chariots. He rides upon the wings of the wind. 4 The angels[a] are his messengers—his servants of fire!
5 You bound the world together so that it would never fall apart. 6 You clothed the earth with floods of waters covering up the mountains. 7-8 You spoke, and at the sound of your shout the water collected into its vast ocean beds, and mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed. 9 And then you set a boundary for the seas so that they would never again cover the earth.
10 He placed springs in the valleys and streams that gush from the mountains. 11 They give water for all the animals to drink. There the wild donkeys quench their thirst, 12 and the birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees. 13 He sends rain upon the mountains and fills the earth with fruit. 14 The tender grass grows up at his command to feed the cattle, and there are fruit trees, vegetables, and grain for man to cultivate, 15 and wine to make him glad, and olive oil as lotion for his skin, and bread to give him strength. 16 The Lord planted the cedars of Lebanon. They are tall and flourishing. 17 There the birds make their nests, the storks in the firs. 18 High in the mountains are pastures for the wild goats, and rock badgers burrow in among the rocks and find protection there.
19 He assigned the moon to mark the months and the sun to mark the days. 20 He sends the night and darkness, when all the forest folk come out. 21 Then the young lions roar for their food, but they are dependent on the Lord. 22 At dawn they slink back into their dens to rest, 23 and men go off to work until the evening shadows fall again. 24 O Lord, what a variety you have made! And in wisdom you have made them all! The earth is full of your riches.
25 There before me lies the mighty ocean, teeming with life of every kind, both great and small. 26 And look! See the ships! And over there, the whale you made to play in the sea. 27 Every one of these depends on you to give them daily food. 28 You supply it, and they gather it. You open wide your hand to feed them, and they are satisfied with all your bountiful provision.
29 But if you turn away from them, then all is lost. And when you gather up their breath, they die and turn again to dust.
30 Then you send your Spirit, and new life is born[b] to replenish all the living of the earth. 31 Praise God forever! How he must rejoice in all his work! 32 The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains burst into flame at his touch.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise God to my last breath! 34 May he be pleased by all these thoughts about him, for he is the source of all my joy. 35 Let all sinners perish—all who refuse to praise him. But I will praise him. Hallelujah!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.