M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Elijah and Obadiah
18 When there had been no rain for three years, the Lord told Elijah, ‘Go and meet King Ahab. After that, I will send rain to make the ground wet again.’ 2 So Elijah went to meet Ahab.
At that time, the famine in Samaria was very bad. 3 King Ahab told his officer Obadiah to come and meet him. Obadiah had authority over the king's palace.
Obadiah obeyed the Lord very faithfully.[a] 4 At one time, Ahab's wife Jezebel was killing many of the Lord's prophets. While she was doing this, Obadiah had kept 100 prophets safe. He had hidden them in two caves, with 50 prophets in each cave. He had also given them food and water.
5 Now Ahab said to Obadiah, ‘Go through all the land to where there are valleys and springs of water. See if we can find some grass to feed the horses and mules. Then we will not have to kill our animals.’ 6 So Ahab and Obadiah went to different parts of the country. Ahab went in one direction and Obadiah went in another direction.
7 While Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized Elijah. He bent his body down towards the ground in front of Elijah. Obadiah said, ‘Is it really you, my master, Elijah?’ 8 Elijah replied. ‘Yes! Now go and tell your master that Elijah is here again.’ 9 Obadiah said, ‘Why are you sending me to my death? What have I done to hurt you? Ahab will certainly kill me if I tell him you are here! 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, my master, King Ahab, has sent people everywhere to look for you. He has looked in every nation and every kingdom. When they say, “Elijah is not here!” he makes them promise that they are speaking the truth. 11 But now you are telling me to go to my master. You want me to say, “Elijah is here!” 12 When I leave you, I do not know where the Lord's Spirit will take you. I may not be able to find you again. Then if I tell Ahab that I have seen you, he still will not find you. So he will kill me.
But I have served the Lord faithfully since I was a young man. 13 You know, sir, about what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets. I hid 100 prophets in two caves. I put 50 prophets in each cave. I gave them food and water. 14 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, “Elijah is here!” I know that he will kill me!’
15 Elijah said, ‘I serve the Lord Almighty. As surely as he lives, I promise that I will meet with King Ahab today.’
Elijah and Baal's prophets
16 So Obadiah went to Ahab. He told Ahab where Elijah was. So King Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that really you, the man who brings trouble to Israel?’ 18 Elijah replied, ‘I have not brought trouble to Israel. But you and your father's family have done that. You have refused to obey the Lord's commands. Instead, you have worshipped the false gods of Baal. 19 Now, tell people from all over Israel to come and meet me. They must meet me on Mount Carmel. Also, bring the 450 prophets who serve Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah that Jezebel provides with food.’
20 So Ahab sent men to take that message to all the Israelites. He brought the prophets to meet together at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah stood up in front of the people and he said, ‘You must now decide who to worship! If the Lord is the true God, worship him. But if Baal is God, worship him.’ But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only prophet of the Lord who is still here. Baal has 450 prophets here.[b] 23 Now fetch two bulls for us. Baal's prophets can choose one bull for themselves. Then they must cut it into pieces. They must put the pieces on the wood on the altar. But they must not light the fire. After that, I will prepare the other bull and I will put it on the wood. But I will not light the fire. 24 Then, you pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord. The god who answers and who sends fire to light the wood, he is the true God!’ All the people agreed that this was a good idea.
25 Elijah said to Baal's prophets, ‘There are many of you, so choose one of the bulls and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but do not light the fire.’ 26 So Baal's prophets took a bull as Elijah had told them. They prepared it and they put it on the altar that they had made. Then they prayed to Baal all the time, from morning until noon. They shouted, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice that answered them. They jumped and they danced around the altar. 27 At noon, Elijah began to laugh at them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘He is a god, isn't he? Maybe he is thinking about something else! Or has he left the room for a moment? Maybe he has gone away from home on a journey. Or perhaps he is asleep and you need to wake him up!’
28 So Baal's prophets shouted louder. They cut themselves with swords and knives, as their customs taught them to do. Soon, there was blood all over them. 29 They continued to shout and dance all the afternoon, until the time of the evening offering. But there was no voice to reply. There was no answer at all.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come nearer to me.’ When they came, Elijah mended the Lord's altar that had broken into pieces. 31 Elijah picked up 12 stones, one for each of the tribes that were Jacob's descendants. Jacob was the man that the Lord had given the new name ‘Israel’. 32 Elijah used the 12 stones to build an altar that would give honour to the Lord. He dug a hole in the ground all around it. The hole was big enough to contain 15 litres of seeds. 33 Then he put wood on the altar. He cut the bull into pieces and he put the pieces on top of the wood. Then he said to the people, ‘Fill four large jars with water. Pour the water all over the offering and the wood.’ 34 After they did that, Elijah told them, ‘Do it again!’ So they did it again. Then he told them, ‘Do it a third time!’ So they did it for the third time. 35 The water poured down all the sides of the altar. It filled the hole that was around the altar.
36 The time came for the evening offering. Then God's prophet Elijah came to the front of the altar. He prayed, ‘Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Show people clearly today that you are the God who rules over Israel. Show that I am your servant. Show that I have done all these things because you commanded me to do them. 37 Please answer me, Lord! Answer me so that these people will know that you, Lord, are the true God. They will know that you have caused them to turn back to serve you again.’
38 Then the Lord sent fire down from above. It burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the dirt. It made all the water in the hole around the altar disappear! 39 When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down on the ground. They shouted, ‘The Lord is the true God! Yes, the Lord is God!’ 40 Then Elijah said, ‘Take hold of Baal's prophets! Do not let any of them run away!’ So they caught them. Then Elijah took the prophets down to the Kishon Valley. There, he punished them with death.
Elijah waits for rain
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go now and have some food to eat. Go quickly, because there is the sound of heavy rain that is coming.’ 42 So Ahab went away to eat and to drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent low down towards the ground. He put his face between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, ‘Go up and look towards the sea.’ So his servant did that. He said to Elijah, ‘There is nothing to see there.’ Elijah told his servant seven times, ‘Go back and look again.’ 44 The seventh time, the servant said, ‘I can see a small cloud above the sea that is coming this way. It is only as big as a man's hand.’[c] So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, “Prepare your chariot now! Go back down quickly before the rain stops you.” ’ 45 As Elijah said this, the sky became very dark with black clouds. The wind started to blow and there was a heavy storm of rain.
King Ahab rode away towards Jezreel. 46 Then the Lord gave Elijah special power. Elijah tied his robe into his belt and he ran all the way to Jezreel. Ahab followed him.
Paul says ‘hello’
1 This letter is from Paul, Silas and Timothy.
We are writing to the people of the church in Thessalonica. You belong to God the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray that God will continue to help you. We pray that he will give you peace in your minds.
2 We always thank God for all of you. Every time that we pray, we pray for you. 3 As we pray to our Father God, we remember how you live. You do good things because you believe in Christ. You work hard to help other people because you love them and you love God. You are also strong and patient because you hope strongly in our Lord Jesus Christ.[a]
4 Our Christian friends, God loves you. We know that he has chosen you to belong to him. 5 When we told you God's good news, it was not only words that we spoke to you. God helped us with his power and with the Holy Spirit. As a result, you were sure that our message was true. You also know that we lived among you in a good way. We had come to help you.
6 In your lives also, you copied our example and the example of the Lord Jesus. When you believed our message, people caused you to have a lot of trouble. But God's Holy Spirit helped you to be very happy. 7 As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.[b]
8 Because of you, people in many places have clearly heard the message about the Lord. It is not only the people in Macedonia and in Achaia who have heard it. People everywhere now know how you trust God. So, as we travel to different places, we do not need to tell people anything. 9 Those people themselves speak about how you accepted us. They tell us how you stopped worshipping false gods. They know that you now serve the true God who always lives. 10 They also tell us that you are waiting patiently for God's Son to return from heaven. God raised him up after his death on the cross. He is Jesus. He saves us from God's punishment that will come one day.[c]
Each tribe gets its part of the land
48 ‘This is the list of Israel's tribes, with the land that each tribe will receive:
Dan will receive land at the north border of Israel. Their north border goes east from the Mediterranean Sea along the road to Hethlon, as far as Lebo-Hamath. From there, it goes to Hazar-Enan, on the border between Damascus and Hamath.
Dan's part of the land goes all the way from Israel's border in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
2 South of Dan's land will be the land for Asher.
3 South of Asher's land will be the land for Naphtali.
4 South of Naphtali's land will be the land for Manasseh.
5 South of Manasseh's land will be the land for Ephraim.
6 South of Ephraim's land will be the land for Reuben.
7 South of Reuben's land will be the land for Judah.
8 South of Judah's land will be a special part of the land, with the temple in the middle of it. From east to west, it will be the same size as the parts of the land for Israel's tribes. From north to south, it will be 12½ kilometres.
9 The part that belongs to the Lord for his temple will be 12½ kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. 10 The priests will have a part of this holy land. Their part will measure 12½ kilometres from east to west. It will measure 5 kilometres from north to south. The Lord's temple will be in the middle of this part. 11 This holy part of the land will belong to the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They are the priests who served me faithfully. They did not turn away from me as the other Levites did when Israel's people did not obey me. 12 So the priests will have that special part of the land, next to the part for the Levites. The priests' part will be the most holy part of the land.
13 The Levites will also have a special part, south of the part for the priests. It will be the same size. It will measure 12½ kilometres from east to west, and 5 kilometres from north to south. So the land for the priests and for the Levites will be 12½ kilometres from east to west and 10 kilometres from north to south. 14 The special part of the land that belongs to the Lord is the best of the whole land. You must not give his land to anyone else or sell it to anyone else. It is holy and it belongs to the Lord.
15 The other part of the special land is 12½ kilometres from east to west and 2½ kilometres from north to south. That part is not holy. Ordinary people may use it. They may live there and use the fields. There will be a city in the middle of it. 16 The city will be square, 2,250 metres long on each side. 17 You must leave an open space 125 metres wide on each side of the city. 18 There will be two other pieces of land south of the special holy land. There will be a piece 2.5 kilometres wide on the east side of the city and a piece 2.5 kilometres wide on the west side. People who live in the city may use these pieces of land to grow crops. 19 There will be people from the different tribes of Israel who live in the city. Any of them may use the land to grow things.
20 The whole of the special land, including the holy part and the part for the city, will be a square. Each side will be 12½ kilometres.
21 The parts of land on each side of the square will belong to the ruler. The part on the east side will go as far as Israel's border in the east. The part on the west side will go as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The holy part of land where the temple is will be in the middle, between them. 22 The land that belongs to the Levites and the priests, as well as the city, will be between the two parts of land that belong to the ruler. The land for Judah will be on the north side of these lands. The land for Benjamin's will be on the south side.
23 The other tribes will each have a part of the land that is south of this special part. The land for each of these tribes will go all the way from Israel's border in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
South of the special land will be the land for Benjamin.
24 South of the Benjamin's land will be the land for Simeon.
25 South of Simeon's land will be the land for Issachar.
26 South of Issachar's land will be the land for Zebulun.
27 South of Zebulun's land will be the land for Gad.
28 The border on the south side of Gad's land goes from Tamar to the springs of water near Meribath Kadesh. From there, it goes along the stream at Egypt's border to the Mediterranean Sea.
29 That is how you must share the land among Israel's tribes. Each part will belong to one tribe and their descendants. I, the Almighty Lord, say this.
The gates of the city
30 These will be the entrance gates on each side of the city. The wall on the north side of the city will be 2,250 metres long. 31 There will be three gates on that side. Each gate will have the name of one of Israel's tribes, one for Reuben, the next for Judah, and the next for Levi. 32 The wall on the east side will also be 2,250 metres long. The three gates on that side will be for Joseph, for Benjamin and for Dan. 33 The wall on the south side will also be 2,250 metres long. The three gates on that side will be for Simeon, for Issachar and for Zebulun. 34 The wall on the west side will also be 2,250 metres long. The three gates on that side will be for Gad, for Asher and for Naphtali. 35 So the walls all around the city will measure 9,000 metres.
From that time on, the name of the city will be, “The Lord is there.” ’
God is great![a]
104 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Lord, my God, you are very great!
You rule with authority as a great king.
2 Light is all round you,
like the clothes that you wear.
You have put the skies as a roof over the earth.
3 You have built the beams of your home
on the clouds of rain.
The clouds carry you as you travel,
and you ride on the wind.
4 You use the winds to carry your messages.
Flames of fire are your servants.
5 You, Lord, built the earth
on its strong foundations.
Nothing will ever shake it from its place.
6 You covered the earth with deep water,
like a coat.
The water covered the tops of the mountains.
7 But when you shouted,
the water went back.
It ran away,
when you shouted like thunder.
8 The water poured down from the mountains,
and it went down into the valleys.
It went to stay in the place that you had chosen for it.
9 You made a border for the water
so that it could not cross.
Never again will the water cover the earth.[b]
10 You cause springs of water
to pour along the valleys.
Streams of water run between the hills.
11 They give water to all the wild animals.
Wild donkeys drink from them.
12 The birds make their homes beside the streams.
They sing from the branches of the trees.
13 You pour down rain on the mountains
from your home above the sky.
You cause many fruits to grow on the earth.
14 You give grass for farm animals to eat.
You give crops for people to plant.
In that way, people get food from the ground.
15 They grow grapes for wine,
which makes them happy.
They grow olive trees for oil,
which makes their faces shine.
They grow grain for bread,
which makes them strong.
16 The Lord's own trees receive plenty of rain.
They are the cedar trees
that he planted in Lebanon.
17 The birds make their nests there.
Storks live there in the fir trees.
18 The wild goats live high up in the mountains.
Rock badgers hide among the rocks.
19 You made the moon
to tell us the months and seasons.
The sun also knows the right time for sunset.
20 At night you make it dark,
so that the forest animals come out.
21 The lions roar
while they look for animals to kill.
They look for the food that God gives to them.
22 At sunrise, they go back to their homes,
and they lie down to rest.
23 During the day, people go out to work.
They work at their jobs until it is evening.
24 Lord, you have made very many different things!
You were very wise in the way that you have made them all.
The earth is full of the living things
that you have made.[c]
25 Look at the sea, which is deep and wide!
It is full of living things,
that are both large and small.
They are more than anyone can count.
26 Ships travel on the sea.
You made the monster, Leviathan,
to swim and to play in the sea.
27 All these living things wait for you
to give them their food when they need it.
28 When you give it to them, they take it.
You open your hand to feed them,
and they have plenty of good things.
29 When you turn away from them,
they become very afraid.
When you take away their breath,
they die and they return to the dust.
30 But when you breathe into anything,
it receives life.
In that way, you bring new life to the earth.
31 I pray that the glory of the Lord
will continue for ever!
I pray that the Lord will be happy
with everything that he has made!
32 When he looks down at the earth,
it shakes!
When he touches the mountains,
they pour out smoke!
33 All my life, I will sing to praise the Lord.
I will always sing songs to praise my God,
for as long as I live.
34 I want my song to make him happy.
I will be happy,
because of what the Lord has done.
35 I pray that wicked people will disappear from the earth.
May they disappear for ever!
I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!’
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