M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Elijah and the Time Without Rain

17 Elijah was a prophet from the town of Tishbe in Gilead. He said to King Ahab, “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel. By his power, I promise that no dew or rain will fall for the next few years. The rain will fall only when I command it to fall.”

² Then the Lord said to Elijah, ³ “Leave this place and go east. Hide near Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan River. ⁴ You can get your water from that stream, and I have commanded ravens to bring food to you there.” ⁵ So Elijah did what the Lord told him to do. He went to live near Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan River. ⁶ Ravens brought Elijah food every morning and every evening, and he drank water from the stream.

⁷ There was no rain, so after a while the stream became dry. ⁸ Then the Lord said to Elijah, ⁹ “Go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay there. There is a widow there that I commanded to take care of you.”

¹⁰ So Elijah went to Zarephath. He went to the town gate and saw a woman there gathering wood for a fire. She was a widow. Elijah said to her, “Would you bring me a small cup of water to drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get the water, Elijah said, “Bring me a piece of bread too, please.”

¹² The woman answered, “I promise you, before the Lord your God, that I have nothing but a handful of flour in a jar and a little bit of olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather a few pieces of wood for a fire to cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”

¹³ Elijah said to the woman, “Don’t worry. Go home and cook your food as you said. But first make a small piece of bread from the flour that you have and bring it to me. Then cook some for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always have oil in it. This will continue until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”

¹⁵ So the woman went home and did what Elijah told her to do. And Elijah, the woman, and her son had enough food for a long time. ¹⁶ The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty. This happened just as the Lord said through Elijah.

¹⁷ Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He became worse and worse until he stopped breathing. ¹⁸ Then the woman said to Elijah, “You are a man of God. Can you help me? Or did you come here only to remind me of my sins and to make my son die?”

¹⁹ Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” He took the boy from her and carried him upstairs. He laid him on the bed in the room where he was staying. ²⁰ Then Elijah cried out to the Lord. He said, “Lord my God, this widow is letting me stay in her house. Will you do this bad thing to her? Will you cause her son to die?” ²¹ Then Elijah lay on top of the boy three times. He prayed, “Lord my God, let this boy live again!”

²² The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer. The boy began breathing again and was alive. ²³ Elijah carried the boy downstairs, gave him to his mother, and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

²⁴ The woman answered, “Now I know that you really are a man from God. I know that the Lord really speaks through you!”

4 Masters, give what is good and fair to your servants. Remember that you have a Master in heaven.

Some Things to Do

² Never stop praying. Be ready for anything by praying and being thankful. ³ Also pray for us. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to tell people his message. I am in prison for doing this. But pray that we can continue to tell people the secret truth that God has made known about Christ. ⁴ Pray that I will say what is necessary to make this truth clear to everyone.

⁵ Be wise in the way you act with those who are not believers. Use your time in the best way you can. ⁶ When you talk, you should always be kind and wise. Then you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should.

News About Those With Paul

⁷ Tychicus is my dear brother in Christ. He is a faithful helper and he serves the Lord with me. He will tell you everything that is happening with me. ⁸ That is why I am sending him. I want you to know how we are, and I am sending him to encourage you. ⁹ I am sending him with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother from your group. They will tell you everything that has happened here.

¹⁰ Aristarchus, the one here in prison with me, sends you his greetings. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, also sends his greetings. (I have already told you what to do about Mark. If he comes, welcome him.) ¹¹ And greetings from Jesus, the one who is also called Justus. These are the only Jewish believers who work with me for God’s kingdom. They have been a great comfort to me.

¹² Epaphras, another servant of Jesus Christ from your group, sends his greetings. He constantly struggles for you in prayer. He prays that you will grow to be spiritually mature and have everything that God wants for you. ¹³ I know that he has worked hard for you and the people in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. ¹⁴ Greetings also from Demas and our dear friend Luke, the doctor.

¹⁵ Give our greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea. Greetings also to Nympha and to the church that meets in her house. ¹⁶ After this letter is read to you, be sure it is also read to the church in Laodicea. And you read the letter that I wrote to them. ¹⁷ Tell Archippus, “Be sure to do the work the Lord gave you.”

¹⁸ Here’s my greeting in my own handwriting— Paul. Remember me in prison. God’s grace be with you.

The Water Flowing From the Temple

47 The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. I saw water coming out from under the east gate of the Temple. (The front of the Temple is on the east side.) The water flowed down from under the south end of the Temple and ran south of the altar. ² The man led me out through the north gate and then around the outside to the outer gate on the east side. The water was flowing out on the south side of the gate.

³ The man walked east with a tape measure in his hand. He measured 1000 cubits.^[a] Then he told me to walk through the water at that place. The water was only ankle deep. ⁴ He measured another 1000 cubits. Then he told me to walk through the water at that place. There the water came up to my knees. Then he measured another 1000 cubits and told me to walk through the water at that place. There the water was waist deep. ⁵ He measured another 1000 cubits, but there the water was too deep to cross. It had become a river. The water was deep enough to swim in. It was a river that was too deep to cross. ⁶ Then the man said to me, “Son of man,^[b] did you pay close attention to the things you saw?”

Then the man led me back along the side of the river. ⁷ As I walked back along the side of the river, I saw many trees on both sides of the water. ⁸ He said to me, “This water flows east, down to the Arabah Valley. ⁹ This water flows into the Dead Sea so that the water in that sea becomes fresh and clean. There are many fish in this water, and all kinds of animals live where this river goes. ¹⁰ You can see fishermen standing by the river all the way from En Gedi to En Eglaim. You can see them throwing their fishing nets and catching many kinds of fish. There are as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the swamps and small marshes will not become fresh. They will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves never will become dry and fall. The fruit will never stop growing on those trees. The trees will produce fruit every month, because the water for the trees comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be for food, and their leaves will be for healing.”

Division of the Land for the Tribes

¹³ This is what the Lord God says: “These are the borders for dividing the land among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two parts. ¹⁴ You will divide the land equally. I promised to give this land to your ancestors, so I am giving this land to you.

¹⁵ “These are the borders of the land: On the north side, it goes from the Mediterranean Sea by way of Hethlon where the road turns toward Hamath and on to Zedad, ¹⁶ Berothah, Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath) and Hazer Hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the border will go from the sea to Hazar Enan on the northern border of Damascus and Hamath. This will be on the north side.

¹⁸ “On the east side, the border will go from Hazar Enan between Hauran and Damascus and continue along the Jordan River between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the eastern sea and all the way to Tamar. This will be the eastern border.

¹⁹ “On the south side, the border will go from Tamar all the way to the oasis at Meribah-kadesh. Then it will go along the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the southern border.

²⁰ “On the west side, the Mediterranean Sea will be the border all the way to the area in front of Lebo Hamath. This will be your western border.

²¹ “So you will divide this land among you for the tribes of Israel. ²² You will divide it as a property for yourselves and for the foreigners who live among you and who have had children among you. These foreigners will be residents—they will be like natural born Israelites. You will divide some land for them among the tribes of Israel. ²³ The tribe where that resident lives must give him some land.” This is what the Lord God said!

A song of David.