M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

6 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. ² Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. ³ And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. ⁴ So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵ But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. ⁶ And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and ^[a]made the iron to swim. ⁷ And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, and took it.

⁸ Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my ^[b]camp. ⁹ And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. ¹¹ And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? ¹² And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. ¹³ And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

¹⁴ Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. ¹⁵ And when the ^[c]servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? ¹⁶ And he answered, Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. ¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ¹⁸ And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto Jehovah, and said, Smite this ^[d]people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹ And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰ And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Jehovah, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹ And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? ²² And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. ²³ And he prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

²⁴ And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore ^[e]pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five ^[f]pieces of silver. ²⁶ And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. ²⁷ And he said, ^[g]If Jehovah do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? ²⁸ And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. ²⁹ So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son. ³⁰ And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes (now he was passing by upon the wall); and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. ³¹ Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and ^[h]hold the door fast against him: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? ³³ And while he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah; why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?

3 ^[a]Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. ² The ^[b]bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach; ^3 [c]no brawler, no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money; ⁴ one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; ⁵ (but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) ⁶ not a novice, lest being puffed up he fall into the ^[d]condemnation of the devil. ⁷ Moreover he must have good testimony from them that are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. ⁸ Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; ⁹ holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. ¹⁰ And let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, if they be blameless. ¹¹ Women in like manner must be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. ¹² Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. ¹³ For they that have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; ¹⁵ but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know ^[e]how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ^[f]ground of the truth. ¹⁶ And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness;

10 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. ² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. ³ I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. ⁴ And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is ^[a]Hiddekel, ⁵ I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz: ⁶ his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like unto burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. ⁷ And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. ⁹ Yet heard I the voice of his words; and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.

¹⁰ And, behold, a hand touched me, which ^[b]set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. ¹¹ And he said unto me, O Daniel, thou man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. ¹² Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: and I am come for thy words’ sake. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I ^[c]remained there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days. ¹⁵ And when he had spoken unto me according to these words, I set my face toward the ground, and was dumb. ¹⁶ And, behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I retain no strength. ¹⁷ For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me.

¹⁸ Then there touched me again one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. ¹⁹ And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he spake unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. ²⁰ Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I go forth, lo, the prince of ^[d]Greece shall come. ²¹ But I will tell thee that which is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none that ^[e]holdeth with me ^[f]against these, but Michael your prince.

Meditations and prayers relating to the law of God.

א Aleph.

ב Beth.

ג Gimel.