M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Moab’s rebellion

3 Joram,^[a] Ahab’s son, became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, Judah’s king. He ruled for twelve years. ² He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, but he wasn’t as bad as his father and mother. He removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. ³ But he nevertheless clung to the sins that Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, had caused Israel to commit. He didn’t deviate from them.

⁴ Now Moab’s King Mesha kept sheep. He would pay Israel’s king one hundred thousand lambs and the wool from one hundred thousand rams. ⁵ But when Ahab died, Moab’s king rebelled against Israel’s king. ⁶ So King Joram set out from Samaria at once. He prepared all Israel for war. ⁷ He sent word to Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, “Moab’s king has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

Jehoshaphat responded, “Yes, I’ll go. We’ll fight as one: you and I, our troops and our horses.”

⁸ “Which road should we take?” Joram asked.

Jehoshaphat responded, “The road that goes through the Edomite wilderness.”

⁹ So Israel’s and Judah’s kings set out with the king of Edom. They marched around for seven days until there was no water left for the army or for the animals with them. ¹⁰ Israel’s king said, “This is terrible! Has the Lord brought us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?”

¹¹ Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there any prophet of the Lord around, so we could question the Lord through him?”

One of the servants of Israel’s king answered, “Elisha, Shaphat’s son, is here. He used to pour water on Elijah’s hands.”

¹² Jehoshaphat said, “He has the Lord’s word!” So Israel’s king and Jehoshaphat and Edom’s king went down to see Elisha.

¹³ Elisha said to Israel’s king, “What do we have to do with each other? Go to your father’s or mother’s prophets.”

Then Israel’s king said to him, “Don’t say that, because it is the Lord who has brought us three kings together—but only to hand us over to Moab!”

¹⁴ Elisha said, “I swear by the life of the Lord of heavenly forces, the one I stand before and serve, if I didn’t care about Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, I wouldn’t notice you or even look at you! ¹⁵ Now bring me a musician.” While the musician played, the Lord’s power came over Elisha. ¹⁶ He said, “This is what the Lord says: This valley will be filled with pools.^{[b] 17} This is what the Lord says: You won’t see any wind or rain, but that valley will be full of water. Then you’ll be able to drink—you, your cattle, and your animals. ¹⁸ This is easy for the Lord to do. He will also hand Moab over to you. ¹⁹ You will then attack every fort and every grand city, cutting down all the good trees, stopping up all the springs, and ruining the good fields with stones.”

²⁰ The next morning, at the time to offer the grain offering, water came flowing from the direction of Edom. The land filled up with water.

²¹ Now all the Moabites had heard how these kings had come to fight against them. So all who were able to fight were summoned, and they took up positions along the border. ²² They got up early in the morning as the sun’s rays shone on the water. The Moabites saw the water from a distance. It looked as red as blood. ²³ They said, “It’s blood! The kings must have fought each other and killed themselves! Now get the plunder, Moab!”

²⁴ But when they entered Israel’s camp, the Israelites rose up and attacked the Moabites. The Moabites fled from them. Israel moved forward, striking the Moabites down as they went.^{[c] 25} Then the Israelites destroyed the Moabite cities. Each Israelite threw a stone on every piece of good land until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-hareseth remained with its stone wall intact,^[d] but then stone throwers^[e] surrounded it and attacked it.

²⁶ Moab’s king saw that he was losing the battle. So he took seven hundred soldiers with him, each with sword in hand, to break through to Edom’s king. But they failed. ²⁷ Then he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and he offered him on the wall as an entirely burned offering. As a result, outrage was expressed by Israel. So they pulled back from Moab’s king and returned to their own country.

Prayer request

3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us so that the Lord’s message will spread quickly and be honored, just like it happened with you. ² Pray too that we will be rescued from inappropriate and evil people since everyone that we meet won’t respond with faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful and will give you strength and protect you from the evil one. ⁴ We are confident about you in the Lord—that you are doing and will keep doing what we tell you to do. ⁵ May the Lord lead your hearts to express God’s love and Christ’s endurance.

Discipline for the undisciplined

⁶ Brothers and sisters, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from every brother or sister who lives an undisciplined life that is not in line with the traditions that you received from us. ⁷ You yourselves know how you need to imitate us because we were not undisciplined when we were with you. ⁸ We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked night and day with effort and hard work so that we would not impose on you. ⁹ We did this to give you an example to imitate, not because we didn’t have a right to insist on financial support. ¹⁰ Even when we were with you we were giving you this command: “If anyone doesn’t want to work, they shouldn’t eat.” ¹¹ We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life. They aren’t working, but they are meddling in other people’s business. ¹² By the Lord Jesus Christ, we command and encourage such people to work quietly and put their own food on the table. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged in doing what is right. ¹⁴ Take note of anyone who doesn’t obey what we have said in this letter. Don’t associate with them so they will be ashamed of themselves. ¹⁵ Don’t treat them like enemies, but warn them like you would do for a brother or sister.

Final greeting

¹⁶ May the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you. ¹⁷ I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. This verifies that the letter is from me, as in every letter of mine. This is how I write. ¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

Daniel’s vision: four beasts

7 In the first year of Babylon’s King Belshazzar, Daniel had a dream—a vision in his head as he lay on his bed. He wrote the dream down. Here is the beginning of the account:

² I am Daniel. In the vision I had during the night I saw the four winds of heaven churning the great sea. ³ Four giant beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the others. ⁴ The first was like a lion with eagle’s wings. I observed it until its wings were pulled off, and it was lifted up from the ground. It was then set on two feet, like a human being, and it received a human mind. ⁵ Then I saw another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told: “Get up! Devour much flesh!” ⁶ I kept watching, and suddenly there was another beast, this one like a leopard. On its back it had four wings like bird wings. This beast had four heads. Authority was given to it.

⁷ After this, as I continued to watch this night vision, I saw a fourth beast, terrifying and hideous, with extraordinary power and with massive iron teeth. As it ate and crushed, its feet smashed whatever was left over. It was different from all the other beasts before it, and it had ten horns. ⁸ I was staring at the horns when, suddenly, another small horn came up between them. Three of the earlier horns were ripped out to make room for it. On this new horn were eyes like human eyes and a mouth that bragged and bragged.

Throne of fire and the human figure

⁹ As I was watching,

¹¹ I kept watching. I watched from the moment the horn started bragging until the beast was killed and its body was destroyed, handed over to be burned with fire. ¹² Then the authority of the remaining beasts was brought to an end, but they were given an extension among the living for a set time and season.

¹³ As I continued to watch this night vision of mine, I suddenly saw

Beasts interpreted

¹⁵ Now this caused me, Daniel, to worry.^[b] My visions disturbed me greatly. ¹⁶ So I went to one of the servants who was standing ready nearby. I asked him for the truth about all this.

He spoke to me and explained to me the meaning of these things. ¹⁷ “These four giant beasts are four kings that will rise up from the earth, ¹⁸ but the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingship. They will hold the kingship securely forever and always.”

¹⁹ Next I wanted greater clarity about the fourth beast, the one that was different from all the others and utterly terrifying with its iron teeth and bronze claws. As it ate and crushed, its feet smashed whatever was left over. ²⁰ I wanted greater clarity about the ten horns on its head, and the other horn that came up, along with the three that fell out to make room for it—but especially about the horn that had eyes and a mouth that bragged, and that seemed more important than the others. ²¹ As I watched, this same horn waged war against the holy ones and defeated them, ²² until the Ancient One came. Then judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High. The set time arrived, and the holy ones held the kingship securely.

²³ This is what he said:

²⁸ The account ends here.

Now as for how I, Daniel, felt about this: My thoughts disturbed me greatly. My mood darkened considerably, and I kept thinking about this matter.

Psalm 114

Psalm 115