M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Another miracle that Elisha did

6 One day, the group of prophets said to Elisha, ‘The place where we meet with you is too small for us. ² We must go to the Jordan River to cut down some trees. Each one of us can bring back some wood to build a new place for us to meet in.’ Elisha agreed and he told them to go.

³ One of the prophets said, ‘Please come with us, sir.’ Elisha replied, ‘I will come with you.’ ⁴ So he went with them. They arrived at the Jordan River. They started to cut down some trees. ⁵ While one of them was cutting down a tree, his iron axe fell into the water. He shouted, ‘Oh! My master! The axe did not belong to me!’ ⁶ Elisha asked him, ‘Where did it fall in the water?’ He showed Elisha the place. Then Elisha cut a branch from a tree. He threw it in the water at that place. It caused the iron axe to come to the top of the water. ⁷ Elisha told the prophet, ‘Lift it out of the water.’ So the man took hold of it with his hand.

Elisha stops the Syrian army

⁸ There was a war between the king of Syria and Israel. The king of Syria talked with his officers. He said to them, ‘I will attack Israel at a certain place.’ ⁹ But Elisha, the man of God, sent a message to the king of Israel. He said, ‘Do not travel through that place. The Syrian army is going there to attack us.’ ¹⁰ So the king of Israel warned the people in that place to be careful. Several times Elisha told the king where the Syrian army would attack so that the king would be careful.

¹¹ This made the king of Syria very angry. He asked his officers to come to him. He said to them, ‘One of you is helping the king of Israel. Who is it?’ ¹² One of his officers said, ‘None of us is helping him, my master the king. There is a prophet who lives in Israel. His name is Elisha. He tells the king of Israel every word that you speak secretly, even what you say in your bedroom!’ ¹³ The king of Syria said, ‘Go and find the place where he is. Then I will send some men there to catch him.’

A report came back to the king of Syria, ‘Elisha is in Dothan.’ ¹⁴ So the king sent a big army of soldiers there, with horses and chariots. They arrived during the night and they made their camp all around the city.

¹⁵ The servant of Elisha, the man of God, got up early the next morning. He went out and he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. He said to Elisha, ‘Oh! My master! What can we do?’ ¹⁶ Elisha replied, ‘Do not be afraid. There are more men to fight for us than there are for them.’ ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed, ‘Lord, please open my servant's eyes so that he can see clearly.’ The Lord opened the servant's eyes. Now he could see lots of horses and chariots that burned with fire. They were on the hill all around Elisha.

¹⁸ When the enemy soldiers came towards Elisha, he prayed, ‘Lord, please make these people become blind.’ The Lord did what Elisha had asked. He made the enemy soldiers become blind. ¹⁹ Elisha said to them, ‘You are on the wrong road. You have come to the wrong city. Follow me! I will lead you to the man that you are looking for.’ Elisha led them to Samaria.

²⁰ After they had gone into the city of Samaria, Elisha prayed again, ‘Lord, please open the eyes of these men so that they can see again.’ The Lord opened their eyes. Now they could see that they were in the middle of Samaria! ²¹ When the king of Israel saw the Syrian army in his city, he asked Elisha, ‘My master, what should I do? Should I kill them?’ ²² Elisha answered, ‘You must not kill them. That would not be right. You did not win a fight against them with your weapons. Give them some food and water. Then they can eat and drink before they go back to their master.’

²³ So the king of Israel made a big feast for them. They had a lot of food and drink. Then he sent them back to their master, the king of Syria. After this happened, no more groups of Syrian soldiers came to attack Israel.

The Syrian army attacks Samaria

²⁴ But later, King Ben-Hadad of Syria sent his whole army to attack Samaria. His soldiers made their camp all around the city. ²⁵ As a result, there was a famine in the city. The Syrian army were all around the city for a long time. Food in the city was very expensive. A donkey's head cost 80 pieces of silver. A small cup of dove's dung cost five pieces of silver.^[a]

²⁶ While the king of Israel was walking on the wall of the city, a woman shouted to him, ‘Please help me, my master the king!’ ²⁷ The king replied, ‘Why do you ask me? Only the Lord can help you. I have no wheat or wine to give you.’ ²⁸ Then the king asked her, ‘What is your problem?’ She answered, ‘This woman here said to me, “Let us take your son today, so that we can eat him. Tomorrow we will eat my son.” ²⁹ So we cooked my son and we ate him. The next day I said to her, “Now we will take your son, so that we can eat him.” But she has hidden him somewhere!’

³⁰ When the king heard the woman's words, he was very upset. He tore his clothes. As he walked along the wall, people could see what he was wearing. They saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his other clothes.^{[b] 31} He said, ‘I will certainly cut off Elisha's head today! May God punish me with death if Elisha still has his head by the end of the day!’

³² Elisha was sitting in his house. The leaders of the city were with him. The king sent a man to Elisha with a message. But before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, ‘I tell you this. That murderer, the king, has sent someone to cut off my head. When the king's man arrives, shut the door. Stop him from coming in here. We will soon hear the sound of his master as he arrives too.’

³³ While Elisha was still talking to the city's leaders, the king's man arrived with this message: ‘The Lord has caused this terrible trouble to happen to us. I cannot wait any longer for the Lord to help us.’^[c]

Leaders of the church

3 These words are true: ‘If you want to become a leader of God's people, it is an important work that you want to do.’ ² For that reason, a leader of the church must live a life that everyone knows is good. He must be the husband of one wife. He must think seriously about how he lives and he must control himself well. He must be someone that people respect. He must be happy to have visitors in his home. He must be a good teacher. ³ He should not drink too much wine. He must not get angry quickly or quarrel with people. Instead he should be kind to people. He must not want lots of money. ⁴ He must take care of his own family. His children must obey him and respect him. ⁵ A man must know how to take care of his own family. If he cannot do that, he will not be able to take care of God's people in the church.

⁶ A leader of the church must not be someone who has believed in Christ for only a short time. Someone like that might boast that he is great and important. Then he would receive punishment, as the Devil did. ⁷ Also, people outside the church should agree that the leader is a good person. Then nobody can say anything bad against him. And so, he will not come under the Devil's power.^[a]

Helpers in the church

⁸ In the same way, deacons must live good lives, so that people respect them. They must not be hypocrites. They must not drink too much wine. They must not want to get a lot of money for themselves. ⁹ They must completely believe the true message that God has shown us about Christ. They must be sure in their minds about it. ¹⁰ Before anyone becomes a deacon, you must first test their character. If they are good enough, then let them serve God as deacons.

¹¹ Deacons' wives must live good lives, so that people respect them.^[b] They must not say bad things against people. They must think carefully about how they live. People should know that they are honest in everything they do.

¹² A deacon must be the husband of one wife. He must take care of his children and everyone who lives in his house. ¹³ If a deacon serves God's people well, then people will respect him as a good person. He will become strong to tell people about his faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ I hope to come to visit you soon. But anyway, I want to write these things to you now. ¹⁵ Then, even if I cannot come to you soon, you will know how people in God's family should live. That family is the church of God, who lives for ever. God's family, the church, teaches God's true message and keeps it safe.

¹⁶ Yes, the message that God has shown us about Jesus Christ is very great. We all agree to this:

Another angel appears to Daniel

10 In the third year that King Cyrus ruled Persia, God gave a message to Daniel.^[a] (Daniel's other name was Belteshazzar.) The message was true. It was about a great war. Daniel had a vision which helped him to understand the message.

² At that time I, Daniel, was very sad for three weeks. ³ I did not eat any special food. I ate no meat and I drank no wine. I did not put any sweet oil on my skin or my hair until the three weeks had finished.

⁴ On the 24th day of the first month, I was standing beside the great Tigris river. ⁵ I looked up. I saw a man who was wearing good linen clothes. He also wore a belt made of pure gold. ⁶ His body was bright like a jewel. His face shone like lightning. His eyes were like flames of fire. His arms and his feet shone like bright bronze. When he spoke, his voice was very loud, like the sound of many people's voices.

⁷ Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The people who were with me did not see anything. But they became very afraid. They ran away to hide themselves. ⁸ So I was there alone to see this great vision. All my strength disappeared. My face became very white. I was very weak. ⁹ I listened to the man's voice. When I heard him, I fell down, with my face on the ground. I was completely asleep.

¹⁰ Then a hand touched me. It helped me to get up on my hands and knees. ¹¹ The man said, ‘Daniel, God loves you very much. Listen carefully to what I say to you. Stand up now, because God has sent me to you.’ When he said this, I stood up. But my body was still shaking.

¹² Then he said to me, ‘Daniel, do not be afraid. God has listened to your prayers since the time that you first turned to him. You wanted to understand about God. You put yourself under his authority. So I have come to bring the answer to your prayers. ¹³ But the ruler of the kingdom of Persia stood against me for 21 days. Then Michael came to help me. He is one of God's most important angels. He helped me because the ruler of Persia was keeping me there.^{[b] 14} Now I have come to explain what will happen to your people in the future. The vision is about a future time.’

¹⁵ While he was saying this to me, I was looking down at the ground. I could not speak. ¹⁶ Then someone who looked like a man touched my lips. I opened my mouth and I was able to speak again. So I said to the person who stood in front of me, ‘Sir, the vision makes me very afraid. My strength has disappeared. ¹⁷ I am your servant, sir. I am too weak to speak with you. It is difficult for me to breathe.’

¹⁸ The angel who looked like a man touched me again. That made me stronger. ¹⁹ He said to me, ‘Do not be afraid. God loves you very much. Have peace in your mind. Now be strong and brave!’ When he said this, I felt stronger. I said, ‘Sir, please speak to me now. You have made me strong again.’

^20-21 Then the angel said to me, ‘I will tell you why I have come to you. I will explain to you what the words in the book of God's truth mean. But now I must return to fight a battle against the ruler of Persia. After I have won that battle, the ruler of Greece will appear.

Only Michael will help me. He is the angel who keeps your own people safe. Nobody else will be there to help me fight against God's enemies.

The Word of God

ALEPH^[a]

BETH

GIMEL