M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

2 Forsooth it was done, when the Lord would raise (up) Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal.

² And Elijah said to Elisha, Sit thou here, for the Lord [hath] sent me till into Bethel. To whom Elisha said, The Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, for I shall not forsake thee (To whom Elisha said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I shall not desert thee). And when they had come down to Bethel,

³ the sons of (the) prophets, that were in Bethel, went out to Elisha, and said to him, Whether thou knowest, that the Lord shall take away thy lord today from thee? (Knowest thou, that the Lord shall take away thy lord from thee today?) Which answered, And I know; be ye still.

⁴ Forsooth Elijah said to Elisha, Sit thou here, for the Lord [hath] sent me into Jericho. And he said, (As) The Lord liveth, and (as) thy soul liveth, for I shall not forsake thee. And when they had come to Jericho,

⁵ the sons of (the) prophets, that were in Jericho, nighed to Elisha, and said to him, Whether thou knowest, that the Lord shall take away thy lord today from thee? (Knowest thou, that the Lord shall take away thy lord from thee today?) And he said, I know; be ye still.

⁶ Forsooth Elijah said to Elisha, Sit thou here, for the Lord [hath] sent me to (the) Jordan (River). Which said, (As) The Lord liveth, and (as) thy soul liveth, for I shall not forsake thee. Therefore (they) both went together;

⁷ and fifty men of the sons of (the) prophets followed, which also stood far even against; soothly they both stood over (the) Jordan. (and fifty men of the sons of the prophets followed, and stood looking from afar; and they both stood by the Jordan River.)

⁸ And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it, and smote the waters; which were parted into ever either part, and both went by the dry. (And Elijah took his mantle, or his cloak, and rolled it up, and struck the water; which was divided into two parts, and they went across on dry ground.)

⁹ And when they had passed [over], Elijah said to Elisha, Ask thou that, that thou wilt that I do to thee, before that I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I beseech, that thy double spirit be made in me/I beseech, that thy double spirit be with me^[a]. (And when they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask thou what thou wilt that I can do for thee, before that I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I beseech thee, that a double portion of thy spirit be given to me/be upon me.)

¹⁰ Which Elijah answered, Thou askest an hard thing; nevertheless if thou shalt see me, when I shall be taken away from thee, that that thou askest shall be (so); soothly if thou shalt not see (me), (then) it shall not be (so).

¹¹ And when they went, and spake going (And as they went forth, speaking as they went), lo! a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, parted ever either; and Elijah ascended by a whirlwind into heaven^[b].

¹² Forsooth Elisha saw, and cried, My father! my father! the chariot of Israel, and the charioteer thereof. And he saw no more Elijah. And he took his clothes, and rent those into two parts. (And Elisha saw it, and cried, My father! my father! the chariot of Israel, and its charioteer. And then he saw Elijah no more. And he took his own mantle, or his own cloak, and tore it in two.)

¹³ And he raised the mantle of Elijah, that felled down to him; and he turned again, and stood over the river of Jordan (And he picked up Elijah’s mantle, that fell down to him; and he returned, and stood by the Jordan River.)

¹⁴ And with the mantle of Elijah, that felled down to him, he smote the waters, which were not parted. And he said, Where is [the] God of Elijah also now? And (so) he smote the waters, and those were parted hither and thither; and Elisha passed [over]. (And using Elijah’s mantle, that fell down to him, he struck the water, for it was not parted. And he said, Where is the God of Elijah? And after that he struck the water, it was again parted here and there; and Elisha crossed over again.)

¹⁵ Soothly the sons of [the] prophets, that were in Jericho even against, saw, and said, The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha. And they came into the meeting of him, and worshipped him lowly to [the] earth. (And the sons of the prophets from Jericho, were watching, and when they saw this, they said, The spirit of Elijah now resteth upon Elisha. And they came to meet him, and honoured him/and bowed low before him, down to the ground.)

¹⁶ And they said to him, Lo! with thy servants be fifty strong men, that may go, and seek thy lord, lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him, and hath cast forth him in one of the hills, either in one of the valleys. And Elisha said, Do not ye send. (And they said to him, Lo! among thy servants be fifty strong men, who can go, and search for thy lord, for perhaps the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and thrown him forth onto one of the hills, or into one of the valleys. And Elisha said, Do not ye go.)

¹⁷ And they constrained him, till he assented to them, and said, Send ye (them out). And they sent (out the) fifty men; and when they had sought him by three days, they found him not (and after they had looked for him for three days, they still could not find him).

¹⁸ And they turned again to Elisha; and he dwelled in Jericho. And he said to them, Whether I said not to you, Do not ye send (them out)? (And they returned to Elisha, who had stayed in Jericho. And he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not ye go?/Do not ye send them out?)

¹⁹ Therefore the men of the city said to Elisha, Lo! the dwelling of this city is full good, as thou thyself, lord, seest; but the waters be most evil, and the land is barren.

²⁰ And he said, Bring ye to me a new vessel, and put ye salt into it. And when they had brought it to him,

²¹ he went out to the well of waters, and sent salt into it, and said, The Lord saith these things, I have healed these waters, and neither death, nor barrenness, shall be more in them. (he went to the well of water, or to the spring, and put the salt into it, and said, The Lord saith these things, I have healed this water, and no more shall there be death, or barrenness, in it.)

²² Therefore the waters were healed till into this day, by the word of Elisha, which he spake.

²³ Forsooth Elisha went up from thence into Bethel; and when he went up by the way, little children went out of the city, and scorned him, and said, Go up, thou bald one! go up, thou bald one! (Go away, O bald one! go away, Baldy!)

²⁴ And when he had beheld, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two bears went out of the forest, and rent (two and) forty children of them (and tore forty-two of those children to death).

²⁵ Soothly Elisha went from thence into the hill of Carmel, and from thence he turned again to Samaria. (And Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel, and then returned to Samaria.)

2 But, brethren, we pray you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our congregation into the same coming [into the same thing],

² that ye be not moved soon from your wit, neither be afeared [neither be aghast], neither by spirit, neither by word, neither by epistle as sent by us, as if the day of the Lord be nigh.

³ [That] No man deceive you in any manner. For but dissension come first [For no but departing away, or dissension, shall come first], and the man of sin be showed, the son of perdition,

⁴ that is adversary, and is enhanced over [upon] all thing that is said God, or that is worshipped, so that he sit in the temple of God, and show himself as if he were God^[a].

⁵ Whether ye hold not, that yet when I was at you, I said these things to you?

⁶ And now what withholdeth [And now what withholdeth him], ye know, that he be showed in his time.

⁷ For the private of wickedness worketh now [For why the mystery, or private, of wickedness worketh now]; only that he that holdeth now, hold, till he be done away.

⁸ And then that wicked man shall be showed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with [the] lightening of his coming [and shall destroy with the illumining, or shining, of his coming];

⁹ him, whose coming is by the working of Satan, in all virtue, and signs, and great wonders, false, [him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, in all virtue, and signs, and great wonders, lying, or false,]

¹⁰ and in all deceit of wickedness, to them that perish. For that they received not the charity of truth, that they should be made safe.

¹¹ And therefore God shall send to them a working of error, that they believe to lying [that they believe to lying, or gabbing],

¹² that all be deemed [that all be deemed, or damned], which believed not to truth, but consented to wickedness.

¹³ But, brethren loved of God, we owe to do thankings evermore to God for you, that God chose us the first fruits into health, in hallowing of Spirit and in faith of truth; [Forsooth we owe to do thankings evermore to God for you, brethren loved of God, that God chose us primacies, or first fruits, into health, in hallowing of Spirit and faith of truth;]

¹⁴ in which also he called you by our gospel, into the getting of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ Therefore, brethren, stand ye, and hold ye the traditions, that ye have learned, either by word, either by our epistle [or by our epistle].

¹⁶ And our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, which loved us, and gave everlasting comfort and good hope in grace,

¹⁷ stir [stir, or admonish,] your hearts, and confirm [you] in all good work and word.

6 It pleased Darius, and he ordained sixscore dukes over the realm, that they should be in all his realm. (And it pleased Darius, and he ordained one hundred and twenty governors over the kingdom, and that they should be throughout all his kingdom.)

² And over them he ordained three princes, of which Daniel was one; that the dukes should yield reason to them, and that the king should not suffer any dis-ease. (And over them he ordained three princes, of whom Daniel was one; so that the governors could report to them, and so that the king need not suffer any distress.)

³ Therefore Daniel overcame all the princes and dukes, for [the] more spirit of God was in him. Certainly the king thought to ordain him on all the realm. (And soon Daniel outshone the other princes, and the governors, for he had more God-given ability than any of the others. And the king decided to ordain him over all the kingdom.)

⁴ Wherefore (the) princes and dukes, either prefects, sought to find occasion to Daniel, of the side of the king; and they might find no cause and suspicion, for he was faithful, and no blame and suspicion was found in him. (And so the other princes, and the governors, or the prefects, sought to find occasion against Daniel, who stood at the king’s side; but they could find no cause, or reason, for suspicion about him, for he was faithful, and so no blame or suspicion was found in him.)

⁵ Therefore those men said, We shall not find any occasion to this Daniel, no but in hap in the law of his God. (And so those men said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except perhaps in regard to the Law of his God.)

⁶ Then the princes and dukes made false suggestion to the king, and spake thus to him, King Darius, live thou without end. (And then the princes and the governors made a sly suggestion to the king, and they said to him, King Darius, may thou live forever!)

⁷ All the princes of thy realm, and magistrates, and dukes, senators, and judges, have made a counsel, that a decree and commandment of the emperor go out, that each man that asketh any asking of whatever god and man, till to thirty days, no but of thee, thou king, he be sent into the pit of lions. (All the princes of thy kingdom, and the magistrates, and governors, and senators, and judges, have taken counsel, and agree that a decree and a command, or an order, of the emperor should go out, that for thirty days, anyone who asketh anything of any god or any man, except of thee, O king, that that person should be sent into the lions’ pit.)

⁸ Now therefore, king, confirm thou the sentence, and write thou the decree, that this that is ordained of Medes and Persians be not changed, neither be it leaveful to any man to break. (And so now, O king, confirm thou the matter, and write thou the decree, that what is ordained by the Medes and the Persians be not changed, nor be it lawful for anyone to break it.)

⁹ Forsooth Darius, the king, setted forth, and confirmed the decree. (And so King Darius put forth, and confirmed the decree.)

¹⁰ And when Daniel had found (out) this thing, that is, (that) the law (was) ordained, he entered into his house; and the while the windows were open in his solar against Jerusalem, in three times in the day he bowed his knees, and worshipped, and acknowledged before his God, as he was wont to do before. (And when Daniel had learned about this, that is, that the law was ordained, he entered into his house; and at the windows in his solarium that were open toward Jerusalem, three times a day he bowed his knees, and worshipped, and acknowledged his God, as he was wont to do before the decree had been issued.)

¹¹ Therefore those men inquired full busily, and found Daniel praying, and beseeching his God.

¹² And they nighed and spake to the king of the commandment, (and said,) King, whether thou ordainedest not, that each man that asked any (asking) of gods and of men, till to thirty days, no but (of) thee, thou king, he should be sent into the pit of lions? To which men the king answered, and said, The word is sooth, by the decree of Medes and Persians, which it is not leaveful to break. (And they came and spoke to the king about his command, or his order, and said, O king, did thou not ordain, that for thirty days, anyone who asked anything of gods or of men, except of thee, O king, that that person should be sent into the lions’ pit? To whom the king answered, and said, The word is true, by the decree of the Medes and Persians, which it is not lawful to break.)

¹³ Then they answered, and said before the king, Daniel, of the sons of (the) captivity of Judah, reckoned not of thy law, and of the commandment which thou ordainedest, but three times by the day he prayeth in his beseeching. (Then they answered, and said to the king, Daniel, of the sons of the captivity of Judah, hath not reckoned of thy law, and of the command, or the order, which thou hast ordained, but three times each day he prayeth in his beseeching to his God.)

¹⁴ And when the king had heard this word, he was sorry enough, and he setted the heart for Daniel, for to deliver him (and he set his heart, to try to save Daniel); and till to the going down of the sun he travailed for to deliver him.

¹⁵ But those men understood the king, and said to him, Know thou, king, that it is the law of Medes and of Persians, that it is not leaveful that any decree be changed, which the king ordaineth. (But those men understood what the king was trying to do, and said to him, O king, thou knowest, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians, that it is not lawful that any decree be changed which the king hath ordained.)

¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and sent him into the pit of lions. And the king said to Daniel, Thy God, whom thou worshippest ever[more], he shall deliver thee. (Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and sent him down into the lions’ pit. And the king said to Daniel, Thy God, whom thou worshippest forevermore, he shall rescue thee.)

¹⁷ And one stone was brought, and was put on the mouth of the pit, which the king asealed with his ring, and with the ring(s) of his best men, lest anything were done against Daniel.

¹⁸ Then the king went into his house, and slept without supper, and meats were not brought before him; furthermore and sleep went away from him. (Then the king went back to his palace, and went to bed without any supper, yea, no food was brought before him; but all sleep went away from him.)

¹⁹ Then the king rose in the first (of the) morrowtide, and went hastily to the pit of lions; (Then the king rose early in the morning, and went hastily to the lions’ pit;)

²⁰ and he nighed to the pit, and cried on Daniel with [a] weeping voice, and spake to him, Daniel, the servant of God living, guessest thou, whether thy God, whom thou servest ever[more], might deliver thee from the lions? (and he came near to the pit, and called down to Daniel with a weeping voice, and spoke to him, and said, Daniel, the servant of the living God, knowest thou now/tellest thou me, whether thy God, whom thou servest forevermore, hath saved thee from the lions?)

²¹ And Daniel answered the king, and said, King, live thou without end. (And Daniel answered the king, and said, O king, may thou live forever!)

²² My God sent his angel, and closed together the mouths of (the) lions, and they harmed not me, for rightfulness is found in me before him; but also, thou king, I did no trespass before thee. (My God sent his angel, and closed up the lions’ mouths, and they did not harm me, for rightfulness, or innocence, is found in me before him; and also, O king, I did no trespass against thee.)

²³ Then the king made joy greatly on him, and commanded Daniel to be led out of the pit. And Daniel was led out of the pit, and none hurting was found in him, for he believed to his God. (Then the king greatly rejoiced, and commanded that Daniel should be lifted up out of the pit. And Daniel was lifted up out of the pit, and there was no hurt, or injury, found on him, for he had believed in his God.)

²⁴ Forsooth the king commanded, and those men, that accused Daniel, were brought [forth], and were sent into the pit of lions, they, and the sons of them, and the wives of them; and they came not unto the pavement of the pit, till the lions ravished them, and all-brake all the bones of them. (And the king commanded, and those men, who had accused Daniel, were brought forth, and were sent down into the lions’ pit, yea, they, and their sons, and their wives; and they had not even come to the pavement, or the floor, of the pit, when the lions sprang upon them, and broke all their bones, and they all died.)

²⁵ Then Darius, the king, wrote to all peoples, lineages, and languages, dwelling in all earth, (and said,) Peace be multiplied to you. (Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, and the tribes, or the nations, in every language, living on all the earth, and said, Peace be multiplied to you.)

²⁶ Therefore a decree is ordained of me, (which is,) That in all mine empire and realm men tremble, and dread the God of Daniel; for he is God living, and everlasting into worlds, and his realm shall not be destroyed, and his power is till into without end. (And so a decree is ordained by me, which is, That in all my empire and kingdom, people tremble before, and fear the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, everlasting and forever, and his kingdom, or his reign, shall never be destroyed, and his power shall last forever.)

²⁷ He is deliverer and saviour, making miracles and marvels in heaven and in earth, which delivered Daniel from the pit of lions. (He is the Deliverer and the Saviour, making miracles and marvels in heaven and on earth, who rescued Daniel from the lions’ pit.)

²⁸ Certainly Daniel dwelled stably till to the realm of Darius, and till to the realm of Cyrus of Persia. (Certainly Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, and also during the reign of Cyrus of Persia.)

112 Alleluia. Blessed is the man that dreadeth the Lord; he shall delight full much in his commandments. (Alleluia. Happy is the person who feareth the Lord/who hath reverence for the Lord; he shall take great delight, or joy, in his commandments.)

² His seed shall be mighty in [the] earth; the generation of rightful men shall be blessed. (His children shall be mighty in the earth; the descendants of good people shall be blessed/the generations of the upright shall be blessed.)

³ Glory and riches be in his house; and his rightfulness dwelleth into the world of world. (There shall be glory and riches in his house; and his righteousness remaineth forever and ever.)

⁴ Light is risen up in darknesses to rightful men; the Lord is merciful in will, and a merciful doer, and rightful. (Light riseth up in the darkness for the upright; the Lord is merciful in will, a giver of mercy, and fair to all.)

⁵ The man is merry, that doeth mercy, and lendeth; he disposeth his words in doom; (Happy is the person who giveth favour when he lendeth; he disposeth his deeds with justice, or with good judgement;)

⁶ for he shall not be moved [into] without end. A just man shall be in everlasting mind; (and nothing shall shake him. A good person’s deeds shall always be remembered;)

⁷ he shall not dread of an evil hearing. His heart is ready for to hope in the Lord; (he shall not fear to hear bad news. His heart is always ready to trust in the Lord;)

⁸ his heart is confirmed, he shall not be moved, till he despise his enemies. (his heart is firm, he shall not be moved, and he shall gloat over his enemies./his heart is steadfast, he shall not be shaken, and he shall see his enemies defeated.)

⁹ He spreaded abroad, he gave to poor men; his rightwiseness dwelleth into the world of world; his horn shall be raised in glory. (He spreadeth abroad much money, yea, he giveth to the poor; his righteousness remaineth forever and ever, his horn shall be raised up in glory.)

¹⁰ A sinner shall see (it), and shall be wroth; he shall gnash with his teeth, and shall fail, either shall wax rotten; the desire of sinners shall perish.

113 Alleluia. Servants, praise ye the Lord; praise ye the name of the Lord.

² The name of the Lord be blessed; from this time now, and till into the world (and forever).

³ From the rising of the sun till to the going down (From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same); the name of the Lord is worthy to be praised.

⁴ The Lord is high above all folks (The Lord is high above all the nations); and his glory is above (the) heavens.

⁵ Who is as our Lord God, that dwelleth in high things; (Who is like the Lord our God, who liveth in high places/who liveth on high;)

⁶ and beholdeth meek things in heaven and in earth? (and yet who deigneth himself to look upon the things in the heavens, and the things on earth!)

⁷ Raising a needy man from the earth; and enhancing a poor man from drit. (Raising up the needy from the dust; and lifting up the poor out of the dirt.)

⁸ That he set him with princes; with the princes of his people. (So that they may sit with princes; yea, with the leaders of the people.)

⁹ Which maketh a barren woman dwell in the house; a glad mother of sons. (Who maketh a barren woman, who liveth in her home, into a happy mother of sons.)