M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
1 After King Ahab’s death the nation of Moab declared its independence and refused to pay tribute to Israel any longer.
2 Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, had fallen off the upstairs porch of his palace at Samaria and was seriously injured. He sent messengers to the temple of the god Baal-zebub at Ekron to ask whether he would recover.
3 But the Angel of the Lord told Elijah the prophet,[a] “Go and meet the messengers and ask them, ‘Is it true that there is no God in Israel? Is that why you are going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will get well? 4-5 Because King Ahaziah has done this, the Lord says that he will never leave the bed he is lying on; he will surely die.’”
When Elijah told the messengers this, they returned immediately to the king.
“Why have you returned so soon?” he asked them.
6 “A man came up to us,” they said, “and told us to go back to the king and tell him, ‘The Lord wants to know why you are asking questions of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel? Now, since you have done this, you will not leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’”
7 “Who was this fellow?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?”
8 “He was a hairy man,” they replied, “with a wide leather belt.”
“It was Elijah the prophet!” the king exclaimed. 9 Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “O man of God, the king has commanded you to come along with us.”
10 But Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then lightning struck them and killed them all!
11 So the king sent another captain with fifty men to demand, “O man of God, the king says that you must come down right away.”
12 Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men.” And again the fire from God burned them up.
13 Once more the king sent fifty men, but this time the captain fell to his knees before Elijah and pleaded with him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants. 14 Have mercy on us! Don’t destroy us as you did the others.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Don’t be afraid. Go with him.” So Elijah went to the king.
16 “Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask about your sickness?” Elijah demanded. “Is it because there is no God in Israel to ask? Because you have done this, you shall not leave this bed; you will surely die.”
17 So Ahaziah died as the Lord had predicted through Elijah, and his brother Joram[b] became the new king—for Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him. This occurred in the second year of the reign of King Jehoram (son of Jehoshaphat) of Judah. 18 The rest of the history of Ahaziah’s reign is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
1 From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To: The church of Thessalonica—kept safe in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you rich blessings and peace-filled hearts and minds.
3 Dear brothers, giving thanks to God for you is not only the right thing to do, but it is our duty to God because of the really wonderful way your faith has grown and because of your growing love for each other. 4 We are happy to tell other churches about your patience and complete faith in God, in spite of all the crushing troubles and hardships you are going through.
5 This is only one example of the fair, just way God does things, for he is using your sufferings to make you ready for his Kingdom, 6 while at the same time he is preparing judgment and punishment for those who are hurting you.
7 And so I would say to you who are suffering, God will give you rest along with us when the Lord Jesus appears suddenly from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels, 8 bringing judgment on those who do not wish to know God and who refuse to accept his plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of his power 10 when he comes to receive praise and admiration because of all he has done for his people, his saints. And you will be among those praising him because you have believed what we told you about him.
11 And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you the kind of children he wants to have—will make you as good as you wish you could be!—rewarding your faith with his power. 12 Then everyone will be praising the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you; and your greatest glory will be that you belong to him. The tender mercy of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ has made all this possible for you.
5 Belshazzar the king invited a thousand of his officers to a great feast where the wine flowed freely. 2-4 While Belshazzar was drinking, he was reminded of the gold and silver cups taken long before from the Temple in Jerusalem during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and brought to Babylon. Belshazzar ordered that these sacred cups be brought in to the feast, and when they arrived, he and his princes, wives, and concubines drank toasts from them to their idols made of gold and silver, brass and iron, wood and stone.
5 Suddenly, as they were drinking from these cups, they saw the fingers of a man’s hand writing on the plaster of the wall opposite the lampstand. The king himself saw the fingers as they wrote. 6 His face blanched with fear, and such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him.
7 “Bring the magicians and astrologers!” he screamed. “Bring the Chaldeans! Whoever reads that writing on the wall and tells me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor, with a gold chain around his neck, and he will become the third ruler in the kingdom!”[a]
8 But when they came, none of them could understand the writing or tell him what it meant.
9 The king grew more and more hysterical; his face reflected the terror he felt, and his officers too were shaken. 10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she rushed to the banquet hall and said to Belshazzar, “Calm yourself, Your Majesty, don’t be so pale and frightened over this. 11 For there is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father this man was found to be as full of wisdom and understanding as though he were himself a god. And in the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar,[b] he was made chief of all the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers of Babylon. 12 Call for this man, Daniel—or Belteshazzar, as the king called him—for his mind is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve knotty problems. He will tell you what the writing means.”
13 So Daniel was rushed in to see the king. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel brought from Israel as a captive by King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with enlightenment and wisdom. 15 My wise men and astrologers have tried to read that writing on the wall and tell me what it means, but they can’t. 16 I am told you can solve all kinds of mysteries. If you can tell me the meaning of those words, I will clothe you in purple robes, with a gold chain around your neck, and make you the third ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Daniel answered, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar, who long ago preceded you, a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor. 19 He gave him such majesty that all the nations of the world trembled before him in fear. He killed any who offended him and spared any he liked. At his whim they rose or fell. 20 But when his heart and mind were hardened in pride, God removed him from his royal throne and took away his glory. 21 He was chased out of his palace into the fields. His thoughts and feelings became those of an animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys; he ate grass like the cows, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until at last he knew that the Most High overrules the kingdoms of men and appoints anyone he desires to reign over them.
22 “And you, his successor, O Belshazzar—you knew all this, yet you have not been humble. 23 For you have defied the Lord of Heaven and brought here these cups from his Temple; and you and your officers and wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, brass, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not praised the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24-25 And so God sent those fingers to write this message: ‘Mene,’ ‘Mene,’ ‘Tekel,’ ‘Parsin.’
26 “This is what it means:
“Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign, and they are ended.
27 “Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed in God’s balances and have failed the test.
28 “Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was robed in purple, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed, 31 and Darius the Mede[c] entered the city and began reigning at the age of sixty-two.
110 Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah,[a] “Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.”
2 Jehovah has established your throne[b] in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies. 3 In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes.[c] And your strength shall be renewed day by day like morning dew. 4 Jehovah has taken oath and will not rescind his vow that you are a priest forever like[d] Melchizedek. 5 God stands beside you to protect you. He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger. 6 He will punish the nations and fill them with their dead. He will crush many heads. 7 But he himself shall be refreshed from springs along the way.
111 1-2 Hallelujah! I want to express publicly before his people my heartfelt thanks to God for his mighty miracles. All who are thankful should ponder them with me. 3 For his miracles demonstrate his honor, majesty, and eternal goodness.
4 Who can forget the wonders he performs—deeds of mercy and of grace? 5 He gives food to those who trust him; he never forgets his promises. 6 He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the land of Israel, though it was the home of many nations living there. 7 All he does is just and good, and all his laws are right, 8 for they are formed from truth and goodness and stand firm forever. 9 He has paid a full ransom for his people; now they are always free to come to Jehovah (what a holy, awe-inspiring name that is).
10 How can men be wise? The only way to begin is by reverence for God. For growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws. Praise his name forever.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.